Dupage Policy Journal

Jeanne Ives is calling for the firing of Edison Middle School Principal Rachel Bednar.

The call for Bednar’s termination comes after a “Gay Pride” Christmas tree was spotted on school grounds. 

Ives, a former state representative who is now CEO of Breakthrough Ideas, also referenced the school’s poor academic performance in her call to dismiss Bednar. 

“If you let this stand, you are just as morally depraved as the principal,” Ives told the Community Unity School District 200 board and Superintendent Jeff Schuler in an email. "Bednar should be fired for destroying the innocence of young children, promoting racist programs, and failing to educate kids."

The Gay Pride Christmas tree is shown in photos provided to DuPage Policy Journal adorned with ornaments reading "Be Gay, Be Slay” and "Gay Panic," a reference to a defense offered by those who rebuff physical advances by a homosexual. The 50-year-old Bednar lives in Naperville with her husband Jason who works for the Illinois State Board of Education.

The school and broader district have garnered negative coverage in recent terms. 

In May a student at the school was arrested and charged with making threats at Edison Middle School.

Community Unit School District 200 itself was under the spotlight earlier this year after details of its "Panthers in Black" lecture series were provided to DuPage Policy Journal. In that incident, the school district prompted black students to lecture whites on topics such as "black hair culture" and the "importance of Black History Month." 

The school district has also supported allowing graphic novels, including graphic sexual depictions, in school libraries. The passages from one book on library shelves were so obscene, Schuler cautioned a parent not to read aloud from the books at a school board meeting. 

"Reading some passages from that text would not likely be appropriate for a public Board Meeting setting," Schuler emailed the parent. 

CUSD 200 was also a strong proponent of continuing masking indefinitely in schools and even after the practice was deemed unconstitutional. Despite the school district’s stance, spokeswoman Erica Loiacono was spotted last fall partying maskless. Months later Loiacono would remain steadfast in her comments reinforcing universal, indefinite masking for students.