School Board Meeting Shut Down as Crowd Grows Angry Over Teacher Strike

A suburban school board meeting was shut down Tuesday as emotions reached a boiling point between officials and angry residents.

With the teacher strike in Waukegan in its fourth week, officials announced that schools would remained closed Wednesday as negotiations between the Lake County Federation of Teachers and the school board once again failed to reach an agreement.

About 17,000 students have been out of class since teachers walked out on Oct. 2. Both sides have reported some progress but have failed to agree on salary increases.

At a school board meeting Tuesday evening, tensions were high between an angry crowd and school board officials, causing the meeting to end almost immediately after it started.

“Alright, let’s go. I’m a parent too,” said board member Victoria Torres, who walked off the stage during the meeting to address the shouting crowd. “Sit down and shut up. Yeah, shut up. You want to hear what this board’s got to say.”

After that, the meeting was adjourned and the crowd continued to boo. Many in the crowd were shouting for officials to, "Let them speak."

“Telling the audience to sit down and shut up, coming from an elected official that is uncalled for and unnecessary and not warranted,” said Waukegan Mayor Wayne Motley.

While many in the crowd blame the board for the meeting’s hostility, some said the rowdy residents were at fault.

"They came in here and disrupted the meeting," said Melvin Bobo, who supports the school board. "It’s not the board, it’s the teachers. They have refused to come in here to work."

Student Maggie Morrill, who attempted to address the crowd at the board meeting but was told to stop, said the strike has negatively affected her brothers.

"[They] have been applying to college and they can’t finish their applications," she said.

Police were ultimately called to remove some agitated residents at the meeting.

“The Waukegan School Board was forced to abruptly adjourn tonight’s scheduled public meeting due to lack of civility,” the board said in a statement Tuesday. “Despite repeated attempts, the audience would not come to order, and comments could not be heard from the Board or the attendees, making an open discussion of public issues impossible.”