Board delays pact in reporting OPRF students to police

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Updated: February 27, 2012 8:51AM

Oak Park-River Forest High School board members postponed a vote Jan. 19 on an agreement that would require school officials to report students’ drug and alcohol use to police.

The intergovernmental agreement involves District 200, Oak Park police and River Forest police.

District 200 board member Sharon Paychak-Layman said she was concerned about the legal consequences on students.

While “we don’t want kids to do things that are bad for them,” she also didn’t want to see students get caught in a legal net that results in a criminal record and precludes them from getting into college.

Board member John Phelan, while in support of the overall concept of the agreement, said there was no expiration date or escape clause, which he called “problematic.”

Board member Terry Finnegan said it “gives me great pause” to consider the possible unintended consequences of the agreement on students at the school.

“Certainly there’s not one of us who wants to impact a student negatively,” said Board President Dee Millard.

“I take it from your comments we’ll not be taking any action on the (agreements) and that there’s a lot of questions that are coming from it,” said Superintendent Steven Isoye.

Board members agreed to postpone the vote until they had a clearer understanding of all the possible ramifications of requiring the high school to report various drug and alcohol infractions by students to police.