Wednesday Journal--weekly newspaper of Oak Park and River Forest

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Dist. 90 to create food allergy policy

By DREW CARTER

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Trio will filibuster for ‘open government’
By DREW CARTER

Three village trustees have the power to delay voting on a measure, says Trustee Stephen Hoke. That's a power he and other trustees plan to use to get questions answered and to encourage debate at the River Forest board table.

"On good government issues, I feel safe to say there are three consistent votes on transparency and open government," Hoke said. The other trustees are Stephen Dudek and Russ Nummer.

"Under the applicable rules of parliamentary procedure in River Forest-and pretty much everywhere-it requires a two-thirds vote to close debate, and therefore it would require four of the six trustees to vote to close debate," Hoke said. A 4-3 vote, with the president voting, does not meet the two-thirds requirement. He said a memo from the village attorney supports his position.

"My opinion is that we need more debate about some of the issues," Dudek said. Nummer could not be reached for comment.

The three trustees did not want to vote last week on approving hearing officers for a new adjudication program at village hall. Hoke later said their concerns were justified: the board approved two adjudication officers at $130 an hour while the average rate is half that, Hoke said. In Oak Park, officers are paid $65 an hour.

"If we had more time to consider [the matter] we would have found that out," Hoke said.

"I really didn't hear any opposing viewpoints to anything I said" at the meeting, said Dudek, who raised ethical concerns last week about hiring a former trustee for a paid position. "All I heard was silence.

"If you have a board with consensus, it never becomes an issue," Dudek said. "The dynamic of the trustees has changed and there are at least three trustees who are interested in providing input."

Hoke said he would delay-but never stop-a vote for a few meetings to allow time for questions to be answered.

Officials plan to create a food allergy policy for River Forest schools that could be in place as early as the fall.

In crafting a policy, District 90 would be largely on its own. Interim Supt. David Bonnette gave the school board suggestions from the Connecticut and Massachusetts departments of education on how to create such a policy and said Wilmette District 39, which does not have an allergy policy, has developed guidelines on dealing with allergies.

"What certainly draws my attention," Bonnette said, "is that ... students may be in a life-threatening situation."

Board members agreed.

"We're talking about the health, safety and welfare of our kids," said Juli Geldner, whose son has a life-threatening allergy. "Even if we have to be groundbreaking, I think it's well worth it."

Bonnette said there are more than just peanut allergies, including milk, eggs, dyes and latex. Some River Forest schools are already latex-free.

And there's more to allergy policies than just addressing the emergency medical side, he said. Wilmette, for example, has tried to also address the social/emotional side, something board members thought was a good idea.

"It's surprising how sensitive the children are" in respecting new rules to avoid allergens, Geldner said. Board members said it's more often parents who need to be educated or reminded about what should and shouldn't be allowed in the classroom where a student has an allergy.

"There's real learning opportunities here," Jim Weiss said.

Lori Owens said the first step ought to be an assessment of what procedures the district already has in place. Bonnette agreed and said he hoped to have a policy in place by the start of the school year.

But Geldner said she'd rather not rush the process. "Once we know what we've got, then maybe we could set a more realistic timeline," Owens said.

Board developing goals

The school board is fine-tuning goals for the next school year that address the district's instructional program, monitoring student progress, school climate, community relations, updating policies and finding a new superintendent.

The board discussed whether it should have a fiscal goal. Board President Ron Atkins said the board should adhere to its five-year plan and vigilantly review the district's finances. Putting the goal in writing would show voters, who passed a referendum for Dist. 90 in 2005, that the board was paying close attention.

But not all board members agreed.

"To say we take this to be an important issue is a given," said Kristen Coe. She said calling attention to something the board would be doing anyway would be "self-serving."

Board members will make suggestions for changes to a draft of the goals and discuss further changes at a July 24 meeting.