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Students and alumni urge U-46 board to preserve South Elgin theater directing team
Summary
A group of current students, recent graduates and alumni delivered public comments urging the board to retain auditorium manager Mr. Bell's role in directing musicals and to preserve a veteran directing team that supporters say is central to student outcomes and community engagement.
A string of public comments at the June 15 U-46 board meeting focused on South Elgin High School’s theater program and a proposed personnel/policy change that speakers said could prevent auditorium manager Andrew Bell from directing school musicals.
Maddie Martin, a 17-year-old incoming senior, said the change would “directly impact the program he has built up for eight years” and reported roughly 550 petition signatures supporting keeping the directing team in place. “This directing team works. It has changed lives, created opportunities, and brought pride to our school,” she told the board.
Other speakers — Ruby Montgomery (a 2025 South Elgin graduate), Ivan Zamurio (a recent graduate), Miles Hunt (an incoming junior), and Evelyn Pio (a 2026 graduate and technical-theater stage manager) — described Mr. Bell’s role as crucial to student confidence, technical training, and the theater program’s community reach. They described long rehearsal hours, technical skill building, mentorship and the safety of a stable directing team. Several said the stipend or the policy limiting who may direct may unintentionally remove a key educator from student-facing musical productions.
The board did not respond during the public-comment period; the meeting’s procedures make clear members do not answer speakers during public comment. The comments were submitted in person and written materials and petition pages were offered to the board for distribution.
No formal action was taken at the meeting on district policy regarding who may direct musicals; the speakers requested that the board weigh student impacts and community support when deciding whether to change the policy or its implementation.
