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Parent urges District 64 to enforce documentation and parental notification for student searches involving nonspeaking children
Summary
During public comment, parent and advocate Micah Philbrook said a search of a verbally delayed child at Roosevelt was not documented and called on the board to enforce existing documentation policies and allow parents or trusted representatives to be present for searches of nonspeaking students.
During the public-comment period at the March 20 Park Ridge Community Consolidated School District 64 meeting, parent and advocate Micah Philbrook urged the board to enforce the district’s policy requiring documentation when a student search occurs and to require parental notification and presence for searches of nonspeaking or verbally delayed children.
"When there is a policy in place but no enforcement, it is meaningless," Micah Philbrook said. Philbrook described an incident at Roosevelt in which a child described as verbally delayed was searched and no documentation was created, and said the absence of a record leaves no accountability. Philbrook asked the board to require that parents of nonspeaking children are informed before a search takes place and that a parent or trusted representative be permitted to be present.
Board rules announced at the start of public comment stated that the board would listen but not respond immediately and that it cannot take formal action on nonagenda items during the meeting. Philbrook framed the request as a call for immediate enforcement of existing documentation requirements and for the board to create consequences for failures to document.
The board did not take action during the meeting; the public comment was entered into the record for consideration by the board and administration.
