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ForestParkReview.com Vol. 104, No. 44
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REVIEW NOVEMBER 3, 2021
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Details on page 13
No sanctions for Pioneer Tap Page 5
Forest Park records first COVID death since August Page 10
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D209 teachers vent frustrations at listening session
Board member Amanda Grant held the session after the board discontinued live-streaming By MICHAEL ROMAIN Editor
Roughly 50 people, many of them District 209 faculty, gathered inside of Sheet Metal Workers’ Local Union 73, 4550 Roosevelt Rd. in Hillside on Nov. 1, for a listening session hosted by District 209 school board member Amanda Grant. Grant said she decided to host the meeting as an individual board member, not as a representative of the district, after learning about D209 board President Rodney Alexander’s decision to suspend the practice of live-streaming board meetings. During the Monday evening meeting, those in attendance relished what they described as the rare opportunity to vent their frustrations and concerns with someone in authority within the district, which most said they haven’t been able to do with senior D209 administrators, including D209 Supt. James Henderson. A District 209 spokesperson could not be reached for comment Tuesday morning. On Oct. 18, Henderson announced that he was forming a Parent Advisory Board to deal with issues within the schools. “I am looking for a group of parents to be a part of the solution surrounding student educational achieveSee AMANDA GRANT on page 15
ALEX ROGALS/Staff Photographer
District 91 Superintendent Dr. Elizabeth Alvarez stands for a photo outside the Forest Park School District building on Monday, November 1, 2021, in Forest Park.
District 91’s next new beginning With a new superintendent on board, Forest Park schools are taking a hard look inward to chart a course for the future By ANDY VIANO Editor
The first step of Dr. Elizabeth Alvarez’s ambitious plan to shape the future
of Forest Park School District 91 — to stem the exodus of students, bridge the gaps in student equity, retain high-quality educators, improve achievement and restore pride in the community — is to
-charlie’s restaurant-
IN Big Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 John Rice: Haikus with a THIS Crime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 local angle ISSUE Opinion . . . . . . . . .“serving . . . . . . . . . 16 the community since 1981”
be brutally honest about the present. The district’s enthusiastic superintendent is two months into her first school year in charge of the district’s See NEW BEGINNING on page 14
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Tap Room appeals mayor’s ruling
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