Palatine is among the communities where students are still appearing before hearing officers and paying fines related to their behavior at school, even though top state officials have voiced their opposition to school-based ticketing.
“We are going to get it done. We are in the process now of really fine-tuning it,” said state Rep. La Shawn Ford, a Democrat from Chicago and the bill’s chief sponsor. The bill passed the House education committee in March, but it was not called for a vote in the full chamber before the legislative session ended in late May.
Ford said he remains committed to making sure that families aren’t punished financially for student misbehavior in schools. “Anything that drives poor people further into poverty shouldn’t be a part of our school environment,” he said. “If a student has to choose between paying a fine and eating breakfast, that is a problem.”
A Plano High School student was ticketed for fighting in gym class after an officer watched video of the fight. “Everything is monetary now. It is like, ‘You do this wrong, you give us money.’ It isn’t teaching anything,” she said, adding that the school has denied her requests for a recording of the fight. “These little towns, even bigger towns, feel like they are untouchable.”The two students who said they had acted in self-defense were found not liable and did not have to pay fines. The third student, who recently graduated, pleaded liable and handed over $100 cash before leaving the police station.
But legislators and advocates were concerned that interrupting that police referral process might not always prevent students from getting municipal tickets.