Nov. 14--Three west suburban school districts say they have a nifty way to save thousands of dollars.
The schools want to sever ties to the Lyons Township school treasurer's office. The treasurer, who is appointed by the Lyons Township trustees of schools, is supposed to invest money and manage payrolls for 13 school districts and educational cooperatives in the area. The school districts have to pay the treasurer for the services. Three of those districts say they could do the work themselves at much less expense.
One, LaGrange Elementary School District 105, has paid the treasurer's office $84,000 in each of the past two years -- way too much, the district says. Lyons Township High School District 204 and LaGrange Elementary School District 102 also want to break from the treasurer's office. They can't, though, unless all 13 districts agree to opt out.
This is more than just a story about unneeded government in Illinois. (The state has nearly 7,000 units of government.) Here's what's particularly galling: Last year, a former Lyons Township school treasurer, Robert Healy, was charged with stealing about $1.5 million from local school districts over two decades.
Almost all of Illinois gets along quite nicely without this duplication of service. The General Assembly created the office of township trustees of schools in 1819, but wised up in 1962. That's when the legislature abolished the offices everywhere in the state, except Cook County.
House Republican leader Jim Durkin of Western Springs got a bill passed in the House this year that would allow the Lyons Township High School district to separate, but that measure hasn't been called for a vote in the Senate.
Durkin says he is drafting a new bill to free more local school districts to make their own decisions. "If schools are seeking to sever the relationship, it cannot be ignored," Durkin said.
Free the local schools. Let them save some money for taxpayers. This should be an easy call.
