ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst School District 205 is now exempting students with fee waivers from having to pay for lost or damaged books, laptops and other materials.
This is in response to a change in the law by the state legislature.
Students who receive free or reduced-price lunches generally get fee waivers.
Years ago, school board members included the requirement that all students, even those with fee waivers, pay for lost or damaged school materials.
But school policies must align with state law.
At Tuesday’s school board meeting, member Jim Collins questioned whether it was the right message that students with fee waivers did not have to pay for lost or damaged school property.
“Does the administration have any consequences for those students? Or are there just none?” he said.
Member Karen Stuefen also wanted to know about the consequences.
Member Courtenae Trautmann said the district still had accountability by disciplining students who have problems with lost and damaged property.
Another member, Athena Arvanitis, said the exemption was the right thing to do.
“If a family meets the criteria for free and reduced lunch and a fee waiver, it’s going to be hard to ask them to financially replace a laptop,” said Arvanitis, an assistant principal at New Trier High School.
She said that in her professional experience, repeat offenders are rare. In such cases, she said, the district can impose requirements on a student, such as banning the student from taking a laptop home.
Collins said he was fine with the exemption if disciplinary consequences were in place for repeat offenders.
“I’m not advocating that we have financial limits for people on free and reduced lunch,” Collins said. “I have a particular affinity toward people who move to Elmhurst because they want to give their kids the best possible future that they can, so I don’t want to unduly burden those people.”
He asked to include language noting the disciplinary consequences. He was told the board could do that later this year when it again reviews policies.
The board approved the exemption, along with other policies.