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McHenry East grad Pete Kindstrom inspired by father to chase pro golf dream / C1
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Alternative school funds targeted Rauner plan would end grants for education program By ALLISON GOODRICH agoodrich@shawmedia.com In a building no longer used by Marengo-Union School District 165, nearly 40 McHenry County students from various area schools attend classes as part of an alternative education program. The Regional Safe Schools Program of McHenry County, which operates out of Evergreen Academy, is designed for students in grades six through 12 who have been suspended or who face expulsion. Its doors also are open to students who have been involved in repetitive miscon-
duct or who otherwise cannot attend their designated school anymore. Run by the McHenry County Regional Office of Education, it’s a program that several area superintendents have deemed “vital.” However, it’s also a program that stands to lose its grant funding from the state under Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed budget. The statewide Regional Safe Schools Program was born in 1997 as established by the Illinois School Code. At a local level, the program partially has been funded by general state aid, which is infamously unpredictable. But
the regional program’s other main source of funding has been grant money, given to several other Illinois districts including Chicago Public Schools, according to the Illinois State Board of Education website. Last fiscal year, the statewide grant funding came in at $6.3 million. “But the Regional Safe School funds for the upcoming year – they’ve been zeroed out” in Rauner’s proposed budget, Regional Superintendent Leslie Schermerhorn pointed out. Still, that doesn’t mean the program should be dis-
continued locally, Schermerhorn said. If the grant money remains zeroed, it will cost more for the districts. Up until January, the program was offered free to McHenry County districts, but this year districts that use the program are charged $50 per student per day. “We calculated what it was going to cost if we were no longer funded [with the grant money],” Schermerhorn said. “The accountant thinks we can do it minimally at $61 per day per child per school district. But districts would also
Sarah Nader – snader@shawmedia.com
Sierra Mendoza, 16, of Spring Grove works on a geometry problem Friday in a classroom at Great Expectations School in Union. Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed budget zeroes out the grant previously allocated to the Regional Safe Schools Program, an alternative school program for at-risk kids.
See FUNDS, page A4
‘SHE JUST UPLIFTS ME’
Some cautious in wake of ruling Ill. House hearing to hear Rauner pension proposal By KERRY LESTER The Associated Press SPRINGFIELD – Illinois lawmakers have another burden awaiting them on their return to the Capitol this week after the state Supreme Court rejected a landmark pension reform law Friday. Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner thinks the Legislature should move quickly toward a Plan B, but others are advising caution. The following are some things to know about the ruling and Inside what’s next:
Nearly half of states expect The court to confront big found the law budget gaps. unconstituPAGE B3 COURT RULING
Matthew Apgar – mapgar@shawmedia.com
Volunteer Virginia Hartung, 96, gets a hug Wednesday from patron Tim Fisher of Woodstock at the Wonder Lake Neighbors Food Pantry in Nativity Lutheran Church in Wonder Lake. Hartung has been volunteering at the pantry for nine years and is seen as a matriarchal presence among the volunteers.
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ONDER LAKE – Walk into the Wonder Lake Neighbors Food Pantry any given week and the first sound you’ll likely hear is the chipper and surprisingly boisterous voice of a petite 96-year-old – commonly
LOCAL NEWS
‘All of this may be a deal killer’ Proposed CVS Pharmacy in Crystal Lake hinges on zoning change, attorney says / A3 LOCAL NEWS
Off the beaten path Couple turn home in Harvard into Crane Hollow Bed and Breakfast, which offers a glimpse of the countryside / D1
Hundreds ‘SleepOut’ McHenry County fundraiser expected to raise more than $100K to help homeless / A3
known as the “matriarch of the pantry.” Virginia Hartung, a 52-year resident of Wonder Lake, has been volunteering there for nine years after first coming in as a pantry client. See VOLUNTEER, page A4
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See RULING, page A4
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96-year-old WL food pantry volunteer acts as mother to all
By ALLISON GOODRICH • agoodrich@shawmedia.com
tional because it would have violated a section of the constitution pledging state employees’ promised benefits “shall not be diminished or impaired.” The justices said the writing has been on the wall since a 1917 report commissioned by the General Assembly suggested the state’s pensions systems were “moving toward a crisis.” But a deal wasn’t struck until former Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn