Parents Appeal Judge’s Order in the Richmond-Davis Lawsuit

Parents who sued St. Charles Community Unit School District 303 to halt the reorganization of two local schools have appealed a judge’s ruling refusing to dismantle the changes, the Kane County Chronicle reports.

Tim Dwyer, the attorney for the parents, told the Chronicle that his clients want the district to restore Davis Primary School, 1125 S. 7th St., and Richmond Intermediate School, 300 S. 12th St., as elementary schools, which they were before the 2011 reorganization.

Since the reorganization, Davis serves pupils in kindergarten through second grades, while Richmond serves third- through fifth-graders.

On Sept. 18, Kane County Circuit Judge David R. Akemann ruled in favor of the parents but declined to order that the schools’ reorganization be dismantled. Instead, he ordered District 303 to put together a school improvement plan for the schools’ as required by the  No Child Left Behind Act.

District 303 Superintendent Don Schlomann told the Chronicle that the appeal was not unexpected, and expressed regret that the district must continue to the defend against the litigation when the “matter that has been decided by the courts not once, but twice …”

The Chronicle reports that since the lawsuit inception through Aug. 31, District 303 has seens legal fees grow to $316,945.49. The district says its insurance has covered only about $75,684 of that.

• You can read the full story in the Chronicle.