After hours of public comment from students, parents and educators, the Naperville Community Unit School District 203 Board of Education voted Monday night to reject a proposal that would have laid off 38 teachers.
The decision came near the end of a meeting that stretched more than four hours, during which dozens of speakers urged the board to reconsider what many described as a rushed and harmful plan to address a projected $12.4 million budget deficit for the 2026-27 school year.
“This plan seems to be using the nuance of a meat cleaver to do the work of micro-surgery,” Naperville Central High School social studies teacher Todd Holmberg said during public comment…