The DuPage Regional Board of School Trustees tossed out a petition Monday from a group of Clarendon Hills residents who were trying to switch from Westmont Community Unit School District 201 into the Hinsdale school districts.
In a 6-1 vote, trustees decided the residents, who live in the Blackhawk Heights subdivision, had not gathered enough names on their petition seeking to join Hinsdale Elementary School District 181 and Hinsdale Township High School District 86.
The vote reverses an August decision, when trustees refused to dismiss the petition. Board members agreed to reconsider the issue because lawyers for the school districts complained that only four of seven trustees were present then.
Bruce Garner, the attorney representing the Blackhawk Heights residents, was not sure whether his clients would appeal the board’s decision to the DuPage Circuit Court or maybe file a new petition.
“I felt like I got torpedoed,” he said of the vote. “I’m a bit surprised by the decision, considering how they voted last time. I felt the law was on our side and I thought we would prevail.”
The Blackhawk Heights residents, who filed their detachment petition earlier this year, were trying to move into the Hinsdale school districts where they thought their children would get a better education.
Officials in all three school districts opposed the switch. District 201 officials argued that losing the subdivision would represent a major blow to their enrollment and budget. Officials in the Hinsdale districts said they couldn’t handle the influx of new students.
Under state law, a group of residents can move from one school district to another if they gather the signatures of two-thirds of the registered voters in the target area and if they can convince the regional board that the switch would not harm any of the districts involved.
During the Monday hearing, lawyers for the districts and the residents argued over what constituted the official number of registered voters. District attorneys wanted to use the list provided by the DuPage Board of Elections.
But Garner contended that list was incorrect, pointing out that at least 30 Blackhawk Heights residents had moved but were still listed as registered voters at their old addresses.
He argued that his clients had obtained the signatures of two-thirds of the actual registered voters in the area.
Trustees said it was not up to them to determine whether the election board’s voter registration list was accurate.
“We cannot go into the living rooms and bedrooms of each of these homes and see who lives there,” said Trustee Laura Pollastrini. “That is not our role. That is the function of another legislative body.”
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Trustees Joseph Patricelli agreed and voted against the petition, which was a change from his position in August. He said his vision was “clouded” during the last vote and, after reviewing the law, had “better vision this time.”
Trustee Martha Rogers cast the lone vote against dismissal.
In other business, the board accepted the resignations of two trustees and appointed two new DuPage residents to fill their spots.
Joan Salvato, who had missed 19 of the last 20 meetings, and Patricia Carney, who missed 16, were replaced by Gwendolyn Bates, of Elmhurst, wife of William Bates, a York Township Republican committeeman; and by Debra Olsen, of Wheaton, a Milton Township Republican committeewoman.