Suburban first-grader heads back to class

A suburban first-grader will return to class after being banned from school for six weeks by officials who say he doesn't live in the district.

Sebastian Fortson's divorced parents insist he lives with his mother in Homewood. But the boy often spends three to four nights a week with his father in Beecher while his mother works as a nurse at night.

Administrators say the 6-year-old doesn't meet the district's residency requirements. Meanwhile, the Beecher school district is refusing to enroll the boy because his father's not the residential parent.

The boy is being allowed to return to class after the governor intervened and pushed the Illinois State Board of Education to reach a resolution.

A hearing's scheduled for today in Cook County court.