District 3 could be on shaky ground

Officials in Fox River Grove Elementary District 3 are not wading into potentially treacherous waters. They're speeding into the waters at full throttle.

I spoke to District 3 officials this week about their plan to finance building renovations through the sale of working cash bonds.

I asked if they had considered the possibility that the way they intended to use the bond proceeds could land them in legal hot water.

I give them credit for not completely ignoring the issue. They spoke to their legal counsel - the same folks who defended the working cash maneuver that led 214 taxpayers to sue West Chicago District 33.

A state appellate court has ruled that that trick, which enabled District 33 to use the money for building improvements without permission from taxpayers, was illegal.

Now, the district may have to repay the $3.8 million to its working cash fund. All of the people involved in the decision, including former board members, a former superintendent and district consultants, could be sued for the money.

If I were a school official, that would be pretty scary.

But despite the unfavorable ruling, District 3 officials sounded supremely confident this week that their actions are legal.

Officials in District 3 should either pause before marching onto potentially shaky legal ground or do a better job of explaining to taxpayers - who will foot the bill for the bonds and could be on the hook for any legal defense - why their plan is different from the one that got District 33 in trouble.

The kids are all right: Preschool bus drivers in Community Unit District 300 will have their hands full next year under a cost-saving proposal that looks likely to pass.

The proposal would eliminate most aides from buses that transport students to the deLacey Family Education Center in Carpentersville.

District 300 officials say the vast majority of school districts in the surrounding area do not have bus aides for preschoolers, except for children who have severe special needs.

District 300 likewise would keep aides on buses that transport children with severe disabilities, officials say.

But for most other bus routes, the safety of preschoolers would become the responsibility of bus drivers next year.

Superintendent Ken Arndt said the district hired bus aides several years ago when the district's transportation department was in bad shape.

Since then, the district has privatized its busing, improving bus safety to the point where aides are no longer needed, Arndt says.

If District 300 can ensure its at-risk and special-needs preschoolers are safe, the board should back the proposal, saving taxpayers an estimated $400,000.

The board has not yet taken action on a more controversial recommendation - the elimination of the district's gifted program.

But I bet teachers and administrators in District 300 will come up with something better before the ax falls on the gifted program.

District 300 is too large of a district and has too many talented kids to not cultivate its best minds.