Parent: D303 lawsuit was avoidable
St. Charles Unit District 303 school officials say a lawsuit won’t slow down the implementation of a plan to convert two schools to grade level centers. The group behind the court battle said lawyers wouldn’t even be necessary if district officials took more time to evaluate the options.
Thirteen families are suing the district to stop Davis and Richmond elementary schools from becoming grade level centers. The suit claims the plan doesn’t address the real problems in the district and is an illegal use of restricted tax dollars.
Superintendent Don Schlomann said Thursday the lawsuit won’t stop nor slow the implementation of the plan.
“There was a board of education vote by board members elected by the whole community,” Schlomann said. “Until someone tells us otherwise, we’re moving full speed ahead.”
It’s possible a judge could tell the district “otherwise” as soon as Wednesday. Tim Dwyer, the attorney for the 13 families, said he’ll request an expedited discovery process with depositions soon to follow the court date. He wouldn’t rule out an emergency injunction to stop the district from spending any money on implementing the change in the interim. Dwyer said it’s really up to the district to decide the value of moving forward now versus the potential costs and related damages involved with trying to undo the plan later on.
“They are basically saying, ‘We’re the phone company, and we’ll do whatever we want,” Dwyer said. “From my experiences with this superintendent and his staff, that doesn’t surprise me.”
John Clarke is one of the parties suing the district. Clarke said the plan the district came up with is both illegal and a “smoke screen to average out some lower test scores” in the district. Clarke lives in the Davis attendance area. He said he has nothing against Richmond or the kids who go to Richmond. Indeed, he believes the grade level center plan hurts Richmond kids the most.
“I am concerned about seeing the best solution for all the children,” Clarke said. “We want to shed light on the fact that the children most hurt by this plan are the ones the most in need of academic support.”
Clarke blasted the district and school board for railroading a plan through without taking the same amount of time it has in the past to study major changes in the district. Clarke said if the district took a full school year to present the advantages and disadvantages of all scenarios and plans, and included community input on all aspects, there would be no need for a lawsuit even if the district still determined the grade level center plan is the best option.
“Our problem was definitely the process,” Clarke said. “I can’t tell you if what they are doing is the most reasonable solution because we had basically 30 days and almost no input. We want a seat at the table.”