Suburban Chill

One Lake County school district continues fear-based vaccine policies; mass non-compliance only way to push back against insanity

It’s hard to think about spring as we stare into the abyss of a January below-zero cold spell in Chicagoland.

Ice melt over icee slurpees.

But there are smatterings of signals outdoor life will resume soon –– advertisements for spring break trips, youth sport registrations and…Prom.

For parents and kids, online shopping for dresses and shoes (never enough time!) can be productive time drains during a work commute or weather-related school delay.

Leave it to one Chicagoland school district to suck the joy out of that activity and add a requirement to centuries-old tradition.

Warren Township District 121 (located in Gurnee, IL, in Northern Lake County) recently posted policy/guidelines for its 2022 prom.

One mitigation is the catalyst for this article:

Just to repeat:

“Do not purchase a prom ticket unless you have a vaccination card.”

How’s that for promoting an environment of inclusivity?

No vaxx card, no gettin’ jiggy with it.

A webpage created by the district for the Prom event gave no reason for the vaccine requirement. All it did was post a link to a page labeled the “Cook County Vaccine and Mask Requirement.”

No context –– or data –– provided at all.

I called up one of the district’s Prom co-coordinators, Carolyn Hesse, and asked her if she could offer any insight on the vaccine requirement.

“We have a contract with the Donald J. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont and they have (vaccine) requirement,” Hesse said.

In early January, the health department of Cook County, where the city of Rosemont rests, instituted an order requiring proof of vaccination for indoor venues.

More specific to events like a Prom, here is how the order is written:

Businesses must require any individual 5 years of age and older to show proof that they are fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 with an approved vaccine in order to enter the establishment

So the district is just complying with current local public health order, right?

“We don’t know if any of those regulations are going to change and have to prepare for what is in place,” Hesse said, who is also the district’s bookkeeper.

Yes, regulations could change. The vaccine proof mandate must change, as it’s the latest example of an imperious policy not backed by objective data but the greedy motivations of high-handed, control-freak politicians.

Those in charge at District 121 would be wise to not accept “what is in place” in suburban Cook County. And there is an example of a big unit district that did not lay down and take the easy way out.

District 86, which encompasses Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South High Schools (located in DuPage County Hinsdale, IL) booked its prom at the Field Museum in Chicago’s South Loop. Rather than just accept the vaccine order and exclude a section of non-vaccinated students, organizers worked with the Field Museum on an inclusive solution.

Earlier this month, the district announced the museum would remove the vaccine requirement for its Prom event.

This from the Hinsdale-Carendon Hills Patch:

The school thanked students, prom sponsors and parents who "worked proactively to engage in a dialogue and alternative plans to address the COVID-19 mitigation measures that the Field Museum is operating under."

Also in the Patch article, on the motivation of District 86:

Last week, Hinsdale Central indicated it was looking for an alternate site, saying it wanted to make sure all students could take part.

Wanted to make sure all students could take part.

That is clearly not how District 121 is approaching an event three months away.

No one there –– the superintendent (who is retiring this spring, which explains a lot about the vapid leadership in that district), principal, event organizer, whomever, can’t pick up the phone and call a contact person at the Stephens Center and ask this simple question:

“How can we make this event work so all of our students can participate?”

Would that be so hard?

Apparently, at least so far, yes.

(I want to be fair –– Ms. Hesse was very polite and we had a nice phone chat. She is not the one responsible for instituting the Prom policy. But trying to get school administrators on the phone or to respond to emails these days for comment is like pulling teeth.)

Those in charge at D121 have made their choice.

They choose compliance, ignorance and heavy-handedness over nimbleness, grace and humility.

What they are doing with this reckless Prom policy is to further demonize a segment of the population –– their students –– who have already endured cultural segregation from their peers based on personal health choices, that quite frankly, are nobody’s business.

That isolating culture is why fed up parents are talking about organizing their own events for two upcoming dances –– Turnabout, already cancelled by the district, and for April’s vax-mandated Prom.

“That’s what I’m already thinking about and been texting with other moms about,” one Warren parent told me by phone. “We were saying how this is wrong and we are taking experiences away from these kids. This is not OK. They’ve already lost enough.”

Yes, young people have lost plenty.

And school district leaders continue to go out of their way to make sure they lose more.

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