Dist. 34: State broke grant promise

Apparently the only thing Winfield school board members can do for now about their long-promised but never-received state construction grant is fume.

"It's a betrayal of this community from the state," said Bob Brown, a board member of Winfield Elementary District 34. "Our community is paying more than it had to because of this political game."

The school board met Thursday for the first time since learning a technicality will prevent the tiny two-school district from receiving a $2.3 million state grant.

School officials were first promised the money in 2002. It was to be part of a $9 million renovation plan that included classroom additions and interior renovations to its former middle school.

A spending package Gov. Rod Blagojevich signed into law last week included $150 million that should have, in theory, funded Winfield's grant and those of two dozen other school districts across the state.

But a Blagojevich spokesman said that unless the school districts had paperwork authorizing the spending during the 2007 budget year, the state can't release the money.

District 34 doesn't have that documentation, and Superintendent Diane Cody said the district's only hope for retrieving those state dollars is more state legislation in the form of a capital spending bill or addendum to state budget appropriations bill.

Cody and superintendents from 15 school districts also waiting for similar construction grants met in Springfield earlier this week to discuss what strategies they could take in pressuring lawmakers to release the grant money.

The school leaders considered suing the state, but Cody said their only hope in retrieving the money would come through legislation.

"The state school system has never been as politicized as it's been under Blagojevich," District 34 Vice President Rita Grady said. "There's not much to be happy about."