A controversial resolution restricting the sharing of board communications with outsiders will be reconsidered at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Evanston Township School District 202 Board.
The measure was adopted at the board’s Dec.11 meeting by a 5-2 vote, with the board’s two professional lawyers casting the dissenting votes on the grounds that it was in possible violation of the state’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
Superintendent Eric Witherspoon assured them that the board’s legal counsel had given the proposed resolution a legal green light, so long as they would continue to release information to public members who requested it by making a legitimate FOIA request.
The resolution was presented in December after Board President Patricia Savage-Williams had openly criticized member Jonathan Baum at the November meeting for sharing a memo to the board from Superintendent Witherspoon in reference to a confiscation by a teacher of the school newspaper, The Evanstonian, which had published a series of articles about the alleged use of marijuana by ETHS students.
The board normally meets on Monday nights, but the January meeting was scheduled for Tuesday night because the school is closed Monday for the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
Tuesday’s meeting, open to the public, will be held in Room N112 of the school, located at 1600 Dodge Ave. The public portion of the meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
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