No Regular Fines For Elmhurst Students: Mayor

ELMHURST, IL – Elmhurst has no regular practice of fining local students for violations of its ordinances, the mayor said Monday.

At a City Council meeting, Mayor Scott Levin referred to an investigation by ProPublica and the Chicago Tribune. The media outlets looked into Illinois towns that regularly assessed students hundreds of dollars for violations in schools.

"We do not write tickets ever in middle schools," Levin said. "It's very rare that we would write a ticket for someone committing an infraction in high school. It would have to be something a little bit more serious and maybe even a second or third occurrence, unlike these other communities that are being called out for excessive fines."

He said high school students in violation of city ordinances are often sent to the local peer jury program. This is where high school students sit in judgment of their peers.

Levin said he was surprised to learn from the investigation that some towns offered no community service option. They rely on fines.

"I wanted to ensure to the council and the public that we are mindful of these kinds of issues and that we are on a higher level on them," the mayor said.

ProPublica and the Tribune created a database for school districts around the state.

According to the database, Elmhurst School District 205 and the local police did not provide complete ticketing records.