Candidates for the Summit Hill Elementary District 161 Board denounced a note featuring profanity and anti-Muslim sentiment as reprehensible rhetoric from a community member.
The anonymous flyer, left in some Mokena mailboxes this week, expressed anger over the board’s decision to sell two of its elementary schools due to declining enrollment. The school board entered into an agreement with the Frankfort Square Park District to use the former Frankfort Square Elementary School, and the board sold the former Arbury Hills Elementary School to the Prayer Center of Orland Park, an Islamic mosque.
The flyer, in part, said “Hope you enjoy terrorists in our neighborhood” after directing profanities at the incumbent school board for selling the Mokena school to the prayer center.
Miryam Zayed, who attends the center and received a note, said she doesn’t know if she was targeted for her faith or because she had a sign in her yard supporting incumbent board members seeking reelection April 1.
“It’s very disheartening,” Zayed said. “It’s unacceptable.”
Zayed filed a report with the Mokena Police Department in hopes they will find out who was spreading the hateful flyers. She said the Muslim community has experienced prejudice during the Gulf War, after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and now, and what frustrates her most is that some people don’t see anything wrong with their language.
“There’s a group of people, whether they have different religious or political views, they want to target, harass or bully you,” Zayed said. “I’m hoping the next generation is better.”
Mokena police Chief Brian Benton said the department’s investigations unit was assigned the case, and said no other flyers have been reported. He said there have been no other complaints about anti-Muslim sentiment in the village.
The upcoming school board election has generated attention, partially due to residents upset when the board voted to close their neighborhood schools after years of declining enrollment. Summit Hill District 161 serves areas of Frankfort, Mokena and Tinley Park.
Incumbent Katie Campbell is running against Melissa Ryan for a 2-year term.
Eight candidates are running for four 4-year terms. Incumbents Stefanie McCleish, Jim Martin and Amy Berk are seeking reelection and are challenged by Adrian Chavez, Patrick Oliphant, Ronnie Petrey, Cicily Gant and Bill Curtin.
Incumbents Campbell, McCleish, Martin and newcomer Gant have formed a slate.
Berk, an incumbent who voted against closing the schools, has teamed up with Oliphant, Petrey, Chavez and Ryan.
Gant, who is running to be the only Black member of the school board, said she believes the leadership should reflect the diversity of the community, and that all demographics should be embraced. She said she was concerned people were targeted due to their religious beliefs and said she would hate for a child to be mistreated.
“I felt a lot of things when I read that,” Gant said. “I was scared. I was angry. It’s a letter that is pure hate and has no place in our community. In 2025, we have to get out of the mindset of ‘this is our neighborhood.’”
Gant said closing of the schools has divided the community but residents have to work together to move forward for the betterment of the district. She said she doesn’t want to see the anger trickle down to the students.
McCleish said the flyer is “heartbreaking.” She noted many community members attend the prayer center, and the center’s preschool students will feed into the District 161 school system. She noted since the prayer center moved into the Arbury Hills school, the members have been kind, welcoming and generous.
The anonymous flyer also stated the board plans to spend $3 million to build another school and raise taxes, which McCleish said is a “completely false claim.”
McCleish said she believes the vitriol is an isolated incident and not indicative of how the community feels. She said she doesn’t believe it came from a current candidate running for school board, but rather an unknown community member.
Oliphant, a former Arbury Hills parent, said he was appalled by the hateful rhetoric, and it did not come from his slate’s campaign or their supporters.
“I do not stand for that,” he said. “I outright condemn this. It’s not who we are or what we stand for. I’m going to condemn it with the strongest possible voice.”
Last summer, the school board approved selling Arbury Hills, 19651 S. Beechnut Drive, Mokena, to the prayer center for $1.9 million. The center is using the building for preschool and adult education classes.
The district sought bids for the school, with a minimum asking price of $1.75 million.
The district designated $1 million from the proceeds of the sale to pay off past bond debt and another $450,000 to upgrade school safety, according to district documents.
Enrollment in the district was more than 3,700 students in 2009 and is now at just over 2,300 for the 2024-25 school year, which was one of the factors cited when the district shuttered two schools. District documents said the enrollment is projected to decline annually in the foreseeable future, noting it will graduate about 100 more students this year than projected incoming kindergarteners.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.