Parents, community groups press district on cybersecurity, youth survey, language access and equity during public comment

Several community members spoke during the meeting's public-comment period, presenting separate concerns and requests that the board and administration noted for follow-up.

Parent Margaret Slavik (resident) told the board her family discovered their daughter had accessed social media through a school-issued iPad while using the districtguest Wi-Fi, which the speaker said was not password protected. Slavik said she and her husband met on Jan. 10 with the principal, vice principal and district technology staff and were told the district currently has no dedicated cybersecurity monitoring program and relies largely on a "see something, say something" approach. She said students were able to connect with unknown adults through apps on the device and that the family is now working with a school detective. Slavik urged the district to implement stronger cybersecurity protections, noting a belief that the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) would prevent minors from accessing obscene or harmful material and that the district's controls did not appear to meet her expectations.

Shireen Peyton, co-chair of the Communities for Positive Youth Development Coalition, thanked the district for its continued participation in the Illinois Youth Survey (IYS) and asked the board to support full participation in future administrations. Peyton said the coalition uses local IYS data to target prevention work (underage drinking, vaping prevention and prescription drug misuse) and that district participation has enabled grant applications and services for the entire district.

Sharad Jain (resident) followed up on a request from a prior year asking the district to offer instruction in Indic languages. Jain said the Illinois State Board of Education has issued guidance and that she has been in touch with district staff but has not observed material progress; she asked for a timeline for introducing Indic-language instruction.

Joyce Slavic urged the district to "not obey in advance" to outside political pressure and to continue supporting inclusion, diversity, equity and mental-health resources; she referenced recent guidance from the Illinois State Board of Education and asked the board to support vulnerable students, including immigrants and LGBTQ+ youth.

Lee Bennett, a district resident, raised questions about how the district measures athletic and extracurricular participation and argued the district should consider broader participation measures (including dance, yoga, figure skating, color guard and other nontraditional competitive activities) rather than relying primarily on participation metrics designed for intercollegiate sports.

District staff acknowledged the comments. Doctor Small (Superintendent) and other administrators said they would follow up with parents and that scheduled agenda items next month include presentations related to technology and security and to state ISBE guidance, so callers requesting further review can expect administrative responses and follow-up at a subsequent meeting.

The board's public-comment procedures were reiterated at the meeting: speakers may state if they are district residents and are limited to five minutes; the board does not engage in back-and-forth during the public-comment period.

Public-comment provenance: the board's record shows each speaker and the issues they raised were recorded during the public-comment portion of the meeting; the administration committed to follow up directly with requesters and to place technology/security and ISBE-guidance items on an upcoming agenda for further review.