Naperville District teachers decry midyear after-school meeting directive; board asked to place issue on future agenda

Several elementary teachers and parents at the Naperville District 203 Board of Education meeting on Sept. 22 said a new district directive requiring weekly after‑school meetings on Tuesdays and Wednesdays will hurt staff and students because it was issued after the school year began. Teachers asked the board to examine the directive and asked administration to provide clearer, earlier notice.

The directive, announced to elementary staff by the assistant superintendent of human resources on Sept. 15, requires 60‑minute meetings on Tuesdays and 45‑minute meetings on Wednesdays outside the student attendance day beginning the week of Oct. 13, teachers said. Alicia Smith, identified in public comment as an elementary math specialist, told the board she had five weeks' notice and had already arranged child care and other commitments based on previously shared schedules.

"Communicating this information with me five weeks after the school year has started is inadequate," Smith said. "We already arrange our lives around our work, but we need adequate notice to make those…