New D181 board member is confused about justice

As a parent of two students in D181, I received the survey to which the previous author and current board member referred (Bill Cotter’s Aug. 6 letter). Given the choice of a five-day in-school option and a fully remote track, I saw no good options. Though my family selected the five-day choice, we were relieved that a hybrid solution was ultimately adopted. It’s clearly safer to have a half-full classroom, and our 6-year-old is unlikely to successfully keep a mask on for an entire school day. I’m concerned that a sitting board member seems to entirely misunderstand the responsibility of an elected school board. That role is to weigh the interests of students, parents, teachers and the community as a whole. I would hope the board considered the latest science and the latest COVID-19 transmission data, as well. To the board member’s call for justice and an up-or-down vote, I respond with a call for him to resign, if he’s unwilling to take ownership for the decision that we elected this board to make. — Reid McCollum, Hinsdale