North Cook News

Glenbrook 225 board member Marcelo Sztainberg’s comment linking unvaccinated students to knife-wielders was not a a random analogy.

A Glenbrook 225 student was stabbed to death in Glenbrook last year. 

In using the analogy in a January board meeting, Sztainberg was harkening back to the stabbing death of one of the district’s students and the guilty plea of another student for murder. 

A 17-year-old student was sentenced in December for the stabbing death of Elias Valdeza, 15, a Glenbrook South student, during what is described as a drug deal gone bad. 

The killer, who is a known drug dealer, was sentenced to three years of probation and 100 hours of community for second-degree murder, a light sentence for a crime many are incarcerated for decades, if not life. 

The stabbing death occurred in August 2020, when Valdez allegedly went to buy marijuana from the killer but then took off running with the substance. He was stabbed in the heart by the defendant after a tussle and found dead by police at the 1200 block of Greenwood Road in Glenbrook. 

Sztainberg’s use of the example in comparing it to the unvaccinated has been cringe-worthy for many. 

His comments set off a firestorm among parents who attended the next school board meeting and spoke during public comment, which due to "technical difficulties" was removed from the video of the meeting posted on the internet.

Sztainberg is an Associate Dean of Northeastern Illinois University's College of Arts and Sciences, and also serves on the school board. He is the father of two Glenbrook North graduates and has lived in Northbrook for 14 years.

Fellow Glenbrook 225 school board member Joel Taub is closely aligned with Sztainberg. 

Taub is infamous for cursing at a community member who had a mask exemption in a meeting two weeks ago. 

"Wear the mask on your fucking balls!" Taub yelled at the man. 

Glenbrook 225 is accountable for 5,132 pupils in Glenview, Northbrook and unincorporated parts of Northfield Township.