Community Corner
St. Charles Residents' Group Files Complaint In Attempt to Halt D303 Plan for Two Schools
The parents believe the school plan is an illegal attempt to re-purpose tax dollars without a referendum.
A group of St. Charles residents filed a complaint Tuesday against school District 303 in Kane County Court to stop the school district from pursuing its proposed merger of Davis and Richmond elementary schools.
“The complaint was filed in order to stop the illegal actions by the school district which re-purposes restricted tax dollars without a referendum,” said Timothy Dwyer, an attorney representing the residents’ group. “We feel strongly that the district is aware that their plan to merge these two schools would not pass public review and therefore hoped to push it through without public commentary or involvement.”
The District 303 school board recently voted to create from Davis and Richmond. First publicly announced last month, the program drew questions and criticism from parents. Hundreds attended information sessions and school board meetings in the following weeks.
According to a press release from the residents’ group, the proposed merger of Richmond and Davis schools would result in less accountability for the school district, which would not have to report test scores for two years as a “new school.”
The group also stated in the release that it believes the plan also involves repurposing specific Title I and ESL funding and would spend that money on non-essentials like iPads and French lessons for the highest-scoring children instead of critical academic supports, as intended.
“The school district has left us no choice other than to take this legal action,” said John Clarke, who is among the St. Charles residents filing the complaint. “Our hope is that reasonable people in the (school district) administration and board of education can invite the people of the community to the table—as has been standard practice in the past—to craft a plan that focuses on solutions, not smokescreens.”
A copy of the complaint is available online at www.citizensforneighborhoodschools.com.
“This is the time for all St. Charles residents to work together to ensure that all our children have the schools they deserve,” Clarke said. “We are part of the solution here, and believe everyone’s voice should be heard.”
