North Cook News

Rep. Tom Morrison (R-Palatine) is congratulating the students and staff at nationally recognized Sundling Junior High School.

“Congratulations to the staff and students,” Morrison posted on Facebook after the school became just one of 18 in the state and 325 across the country to be named a National Blue Ribbon School.

U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and Gov. J.B. Pritzker also made a recent visit to the Palatine school to extend their congratulations, with Cardona comparing the honor to winning an Oscar.

"The whole Sundling family should be proud," Cardona said during a news conference outside the school.

The Education Department's Blue Ribbon program calls attention to a school's overall academic performance or progress in closing achievement gaps.

In remarks delivered at the school, Pritzker called attention to how the school's community has adapted to the pandemic, praising school officials for its student wellness efforts and other programs.

"Mr. Secretary, you couldn't pick a better host for today's announcement," the Daily Herald reports Pritzker told Cardona from the lectern.

Afterwards, Principal Jason Dietz told the audience all the credit rests with teachers, parents, students and other community members.

"We would not be where we are today without everyone working together as a team," Dietz said.

Other local 2021 Blue Ribbon honorees include Carmel Catholic High School in Mundelein, Prince of Peace School in Lake Villa, Maple School in Northbrook; Butler Junior High in Oak Brook, Hinsdale Central High in Hinsdale, Westmont High in Westmont and Lincoln Middle in Park Ridge.

For Carmel, the distinction marks the fifth time for the school, the most recent coming in 2007.

"For the fifth time in school history, our school has been honored with this coveted award, which affirms the hard work of our students, faculty, staff and entire school community," Carmel President Brad Bonham said in a prepared statement. "As a faith-based community, we find ourselves fortunate to have such blessings."

Morrison, a member of the House’s Elementary & Secondary Education Committee, recently spoke out against gender-neutral bathroom legislation he warned would create a danger to women and girls.

"This isn’t complicated," he said. "This bill intends to create multi-stall restrooms for use of both men and women at the same time. That defies what we all know about privacy needs for both sexes, and safety for women and girls. That is why I do not support this legislation."

Also known as the "Equitable Restrooms Act," House Bill 3195 passed the House along partisan lines in late April.

"All single occupancy public restrooms are now gender neutral, so not only is this multi-stall bill a bad idea, it is completely unnecessary according to the sponsor's stated goals," Morrison added.

More recently, Morrison urged University of Illinois administration and board of trustee officials to overrule a provost’s policy that would require proof of engagement in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training for faculty members.

“This policy might seem innocuous to some based on the title of the training, but the consequence is that Illinois' faculty will become less diverse and inclusive of individuals who do not toe the leftist ideological line – a line that is constantly shifting and often defies logic,” Morrison told the North Cook News. “Critical thought, debate, exposure to alternative viewpoints and respect for contrary opinions is supposed to be part of the university experience. However, this policy will softly incentivize conformity of thought and gradually push out competent professors across the political spectrum who will not tolerate the intolerance that DEI proponents are hypocritically putting into place.”