Parochial school parents speak out against Dist. 300 cuts

Parents of students who attend Carpentersville-area religious schools were up in arms Monday over a proposal that would curb transportation for their children.

Community Unit District 300 already has made an estimated $9.4 million in cuts through layoffs and tentative agreements with the district's unions as part of a plan to trim $15 million from its 2010-11 budget.

To reach its cost-cutting goal and balance its budget in the face of declining state funding, District 300 is considering more than $1.6 million in transportation reductions.

Among them is a proposal that would eliminate special routes for students who attend the five parochial schools within District 300 borders.

Because state law requires public school districts to bus students who attend religious schools, parochial students would still be able to ride District 300 buses. But they would only be able to get on or off the bus along existing routes to and from District 300 schools.

In effect, they would have to catch the bus to the nearest public school and walk to the school they attend.

Parents who send their kids to religious schools said Monday the change would force some parents to withdraw their children from the religious school they attend and enroll them in a public school. It would only take 13 to 30 new enrollees to negate the cost savings from cutting special routes, they argued.

"The district has a potential calamity on its hands," said Denis Wiener, president of the St. Margaret Mary Catholic School board. "District 300 will need to effectively plan for the next school year with up to 400 additional students."

Supporters of religious schools also argued that state statute requires District 300 to bus parochial students directly to the school they attend.

Not so, District 300 Superintendent Ken Arndt said Tuesday.

"The law was written based on where the public school is," Arndt said.

Arndt also disputed the claim that a small number of students would be enough to negate the savings. That claim, Arndt pointed out, was based on the assumption that the state will reimburse the district its promised amount for transportation.

That did not happen this year and is one of the main factors contributing to the budget crises facing many Illinois school districts, including District 300.

The state so far has failed to pay about $11.2 million to District 300 in some areas, including transportation.

That means the district has had to shoulder the cost of these areas, borrowing more than $11.5 million this year just to make payroll.

"What the state says they will reimburse has never materialized," Arndt said. "That's part of the ongoing budget crisis, which brought us to this recommendation in the first place."

The board is set to vote on the transportation reductions on April 26.