North Cook News

Speeches from parents angry with Glenbrook 225 board member Marcelo Sztainberg over comments comparing unvaccinated children to knife-wielders and the intoxicated went missing from an official school system recording from the meeting.

The school system released the videos of the Jan. 24 Glenbrook School Board meeting with the note “There were technical difficulties that led to a partial recording.”

The part missing?

Thirty minutes of open comment from parents condemning Sztainberg who sought to prevent unvaccinated children from coming to school.

One parent was later allowed to approach the podium.

“Is that OK that one of your board members is discriminating against unvaccinated kids?” she asked.

The administrators sought to explain away Sztainberg’s commentary by claiming the video and headline of the story “225 board member Sztainberg: Unvaxxed students should be treated like knife-wielders, intoxicated” did not match.

Sztainberg, made the comments at a Jan. 10 school board meeting.

“If a student shows up (to school) with a knife, we won’t let them in,” Sztainberg said in the Jan. 10 meeting. “If someone is intoxicated, we won’t let them in. Why is it different with COVID? Why is the district pushing people to take a risk sitting with people who won’t take any mitigation? At what point do we say this is not safe?”

The mother continued questioning school system officials.

“So you're saying (Sztainberg’s comments) were not correct?” she asked.

The administrator did not dispute Sztainberg’s comments, but said they were limited to the untested, not the unvaccinated.

“No, I'm saying the video and the headline do not match,” the administrator replied.

The school claims that in the video Sztainberg was talking only about students who refused to be tested, not vaccinated. In the video Sztainberg clearly calls out the unvaccinated. 

Jan. 26 was the first chance parents had to respond publicly, but now the comments appear to have been wiped from the record.

Glenbrook 225 failed to release any other information along with the partial videos.

Sztainberg doubled down on the comments, suggesting unvaccinated and now untested students be segregated from the general population.

Around 600 students at Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook and Glenbrook South High School in Glenview have chosen not to participate in COVID-19 assessment.

Sztainberg’s comments were aimed at those students.

In addition to serving on the school board, Sztainberg is an associate dean in Northeastern Illinois University's College of Arts and Sciences. He has lived in Northbrook for 14 years and is the father of two Glenbrook North graduates.