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         March 10, 2010        

Batavia Schools persuaded by Sherman
to reverse decision to charge tuition
for full day kindergarten

See also my follow-up story published on March 12, 2010.

Rob Sherman of Rob Sherman Advocacy last night persuaded Batavia School District 101 to reverse its decision to charge tuition at their free public schools for full day kindergarten.  For background on the previous decision to charge tuition, see this story in the Daily Herald.

Batavia is located on the Fox River, 35 miles straight west of Chicago, between Illinois Route 31 and Randall Road, three miles north of Interstate 88 and two miles south of Illinois 38.

At last night's School Board meeting (agenda), I told the Members of the School Board about Article X, Section 1, of the Illinois Constitution, which states, in pertinent part:  "Education in public schools through the secondary level shall be free."

I told the School Board about Segar versus the Rockford School Board, in which the Illinois Supreme Court declared, in 1925, that "free" doesn't mean totally free, but rather that "instruction in the subjects taught, without a tuition charge, provides free schools," and that parents who are financially able to do so can be required to pay for materials, such as textbooks.  (See the last sentence of the second paragraph on the second page of the Segar decision.)

I told the School Board about other, more recent cases, from the 1970's and 1980's, in which the Illinois Supreme Court reiterated that school fees are legal, so long as the fees are not tuition for educational services.

I said that the School Board risked a fiscal time bomb if they choose to charge tuition for full day kindergarten.  Parents who pay that fee could come back to the School Board at the end of the school year and rightfully demand to get all of their money back, since their constitutional and legal rights had been violated by being assessed a tuition fee for educational services at their free public school.  Then what would they do for money, because that money would have already been spent?

I concluded by saying that Batavia Schools doesn't have to offer full day kindergarten, but if they do, they can't charge tuition for it.

Subsequent to my presentation, the Batavia School Board voted to have only half day kindergarten in 2010-2011, for which they will not be charging tuition.  Later, one School Board Member told me, regarding tuition for full day kindergarten, "If it's against the law, then we can't do it."

Parents in Saint Charles, the second city north of Batavia, have been paying tuition for full day kindergarten for a year or two.  Any parents in St. Charles who paid tuition for full day kindergarten at their child's free public school are entitled to a prompt and complete refund.  Parents who desire guidance with that process are welcome to contact me at (847) 870-0700 or at rob@robsherman.com .

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