Senger vows to try again on Safe School legislation

State Rep. Darlene Senger says she feels like a large door was slammed in her face, but she'll be back knocking on it again next week.

The rookie Republican from Naperville said she was irate Wednesday evening when an Illinois House committee narrowly rejected her proposed amendment to the state's Safe Schools Law to allow districts to immediately transfer students charged with juvenile or felony crimes to an alternative educational program.

Senger's proposal was in response to a case involving two boys from Naperville, a 12-year-old and an 11-year-old, charged with felony counts of criminal sexual abuse and criminal sexual assault against an 11-year-old schoolmate.

According to police, the incident occurred Nov. 11, 2008, in an unsupervised home.

The students all attended Naperville's Gregory Middle School in Indian Prairie Unit District 204.

One of the boys accused in the incident has since transferred to neighboring Naperville Unit District 203, but the other alleged attacker and the alleged victim remain at Gregory.

Democrats on the House Juvenile Justice Reform Committee balked at the proposed bill Wednesday, saying it would give school districts too much control. The bill needed five votes to proceed to the House floor and lost in a 4-3 vote that went strictly along party lines.

"What happened in that committee room was shameful, partisan and it was pretty much insensitive to everyone in the room. Many people in the audience were left in tears," Senger said. "My Democrat colleagues seemed to have a lack of empathy for the case at hand."

Indian Prairie school board member Curt Bradshaw joined the alleged victim's father testifying before the committee Wednesday. He called the hearing productive, despite the outcome.

"Ultimately (Senger) fell just one vote short of an entirely different outcome," Bradshaw said. "With just a little crafting and massaging, I get the feeling she could convince even the opponents that this needs to get done."

Before reintroducing the bill next week, Senger said, she intends to narrow the list of felonies it includes to those of the most serious nature and to indicate that sending a student to an alternative school would be a last resort.

"I feel optimistic so I'm going to give it a try again next week and hope Springfield doesn't again treat me like a new kid on the block," she said. "I also hope my being a Republican does not stand in the way of finding a solution to this horrible issue our schools are forced to deal with."

Bradshaw said a key to success may be convincing lawmakers that alternative schooling is a tool, not a punishment.

"Some who opposed this had the belief that moving a child from the traditional school setting is giving up on them," Bradshaw said. "That couldn't be further from the truth because keeping them in a school instead of on the street is only increasing their chances to be a productive citizen."