Dist. 303 grade level center lawsuit returns to local court, again
A lawsuit to abolish the Davis and Richmond grade-level centers in St. Charles Unit District 303 will return to a Geneva courthouse following an appellate court's decision that the final outcome must factor in the state's waiver the from the federal No Child Left Behind law.
This will mark the third attempt at bringing the case to an end in the local courts, and District 303 Superintendent Don Schlomann hailed the appellate ruling as victory for supporters of the grade-level centers.
In a grade-level center configuration, all the students of the same grade level in the attendance areas of the two schools go to the same school. Davis includes students from preschool to second grade. Richmond includes students from grades three through five.
"The appeal was around one issue, whether or not the district must break up the grade-level centers," Schlomann said. "It's clear to me that the answer from the court was no. We can continue to focus on the classroom and not the courtroom."
Schlomann said the district did put in place a corrective action plan to address the groups of students labeled "failing" by federal standards following the last time the case came before Kane County Judge David Akemann. Those changes included adding math specialists and other support staff at Davis and Richmond.
"We're seeing results of better performance," Schlomann said.
But Tim Dwyer, the attorney for the families who sued to undo the grade level centers, said he is prepared to appeal the case all the way to the Illinois Supreme Court.
"The dissent said it all," Dwyer said.
Judge Robert D. McLaren issued a scathing dissenting opinion in the appellate ruling that echoes much of the argument Dwyer made throughout the lawsuit.
"There is no doubt that (the school district), violated state and federal law, and that the plaintiffs established every element required to mandate the undoing of the defendant's unlawful act," McLaren wrote.
He said the majority opinion of the appellate court "rubber-stamps the trial court's failure to hold (the school district) responsible to the people it is beholden to."
McLaren said school district officials didn't address the problem of failing students by doing anything to help the students. Instead, district staff "moved 'the problem' around" by putting just enough of the failing students in Davis and moving just enough non-failing students to Richmond so both schools met federal requirements.
"By doing this, defendant subverted the purpose of No Child Left Behind," McLaren wrote. "The remedy here should include the undoing of the reconfiguration of Richmond and Davis schools, and anything less than that is no remedy at all."
Schlomann said McLaren's views don't worry him.
"Just like anything else, there's different opinion," Schlomann said. "The opinion that prevailed is the opinion that said we don't have to break up the grade-level centers."