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Parent alleges repeated bullying and threats at Brooks Elementary; requests stronger safety response
Summary
A parent told the District 97 board on May 13 that her child at Brooks Elementary has been repeatedly bullied by a group she described as the “Hawaiian gang,” and that school staff did not follow protocol after she reported threats and incidents.
A parent told the Oak Park Elementary School District 97 Board of Education on May 13 that her child had been repeatedly bullied at Brooks Elementary and that school staff had not taken adequate safety measures after she reported the incidents.
Jackie Stinson addressed the board during public comment, identifying herself as the child’s parent and saying the incidents involved a group the parent described as “the Hawaiian gang.” Stinson said the group included students ranging in age and that members had “surrounded my son at Brooks and stated, ‘we are the Hawaiian gang, and we are going to Swiss cheese you.’” She explained the term “Swiss cheese” as a threat to shoot a person with a weapon she described as “a gun that has a switch on it and fill your body up with holes.”
Stinson said she reported the March 20, 2025, incident in writing to Brooks Principal April Capruder and Assistant Principal Lucas Oceliara and that subsequent events included another report she connected to the same students on April 16, 2025. She told the board she had asked school leaders to implement more safety measures on April 2, 2025, and that a school lockdown occurred later in spring after a student brought a knife to school (the transcript records the lockdown reference as “On 1425, Brooks was on lockdown due to a student brought a knife to school” as spoken during the comment).
Stinson said some incidents were recorded on camera and that she believed school staff “did not follow protocol to keep my students safe.” She also raised concerns about racial dynamics, saying parents of color in Oak Park are not “taken seriously” and questioned whether her concerns would have been handled differently if her family had a different last name.
Board members did not take action during the meeting; the comment came during the public‑comment period and was heard before agenda items. The board did not provide a public response in the portion of the meeting recorded in the transcript. District staff or Brooks school administrators did not speak during the public comment segment captured in the record.
