Lawsuit tab up to $6.7 million for U-46

The lawsuit accusing Elgin Area School District U-46 of racial bias has now cost taxpayers $6.7 million - $3.7 million in the last 18 months alone.

But the law firm representing the five families suing the district will have to chip in a small portion of those fees, a federal judge ruled this week.

For copying an outside attorney on a letter they sent to the district concerning settlement, Chicago-based Futterman and Howard will pay the district's legal fees for a Dec. 10 court appearance.

Carol Ashley, who represents the plaintiffs, told Magistrate Judge Michael T. Mason that sending the letter to attorney Lori Leader, in addition to the district, was a secretarial error.

Mason called that error "careless," noting it is the third time he has had to scold the plaintiffs about sharing settlement information with outsiders.

In mid-September, the district told the court that the plaintiffs had shared a settlement offer with community leaders, an action, Ashley said, was standard in large class-action cases.

A month later the district accused the plaintiffs of leaking information to the press, a claim Ashley denied.

Addressing the third accusation Wednesday, Mason told the district to "submit reasonable costs to the plaintiffs, counsel, to pay for the court appearance."

Mason also used the hearing to discuss the two sides' inability to agree on a neutral educational expert to help facilitate Monday's settlement talks.

The district and plaintiffs each submitted a list of three suggested experts to the court last week, but neither side was happy with the others' choices.

Mason told the parties that if they cannot agree upon an expert, Judge Robert W. Gettlemen will likely select one for them.

A total of 22 people, including representatives from the five families, a Spanish interpreter, the U-46 school board, Superintendent Jose Torres and district legal counsel Pat Broncato are scheduled to attend Monday's settlement conference.

The last time settlement talks took place were in December 2004, before the lawsuit was filed.

Sparked by 2004 boundary changes, the families claim U-46 violated the rights of black and Latino students by placing them in older, more crowded schools; forcing them to ride buses farther and more often than their white peers; and giving them inferior educational opportunities.

Now a class-action case, the suit could force U-46 to implement districtwide changes in the treatment of its 17,000 minority students.