D 211 happy with how staff handled driver situation

The Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 board praised high school staff members for quick actions alerting police to a teacher's assistant suspected of being drunk after driving four students to school.

The Acadmey-South's resource officer tested Katherine Kurpiel's blood-alcohol level late in the morning of Nov. 5 after colleagues said she was complaining of being hung over and said she had vomited earlier that day, according to police records.

Test results showed the 26-year-old Palatine woman's BAC was .048 when tested at 10:45 a.m., according to police records. The legal limit for a bus driver is .040.

School administrators contacted the Streamwood Police Department, and Kurpiel was charged with reckless conduct and endangering the life of a child, according to police records.

“The best I can tell you is the board is just happy with the way our staff members handled the situation,” said District 211 Board President Robert LeFevre. “In my opinion that was a pretty responsible way to handle the situation. The steps were taken immediately.”

Kurpiel was driving a Dist. 211 van when she picked up four Academy-South students about 8 a.m. Nov. 5. The school, located at 1544 Brandy Parkway in Streamwood, is a Dist. 211 alternative school with approximately 40 special needs students.

LeFevre said that for Academy-South in particular, having certain staff members pick up students in vans is an important responsibility.

“Students that come to that school can come from further distances from all over the area,” LeFevre said. “We are certainly happy that no students were hurt. That's the most important thing.”

Kurpiel told police that she had drunk 10 beers the night before at her Palatine home, but had stopped drinking at between 10 and 10:30 that night, according to police reports.

Jason Spoor, president of the District 211 teachers union, said he felt “that everything was handled appropriately.”

Spoor refused to answer any further questions about the incident.

School district officials would not comment whether Kurpiel was still with the school but offered a written statement:

“Whenever student safety is a concern, we immediately investigate. In this case, the investigation resulted in our contacting the Streamwood Police Department. Since this is a personnel issue, we cannot elaborate further.”

Kurpiel could not be reached for comment Wednesday.