York High Policy Unfair To Students: Official

ELMHURST, IL — The Elmhurst school board voted this week to eliminate limits on the number of out-of-district courses for which York High School students can get credit.

Elmhurst School District 205's administration proposed this change. It was prompted, in part, by a few students' desire to take courses at their expense through the Illinois Virtual School, which has increased in popularity because of the pandemic.

Board member Jim Collins welcomed the change, calling the old policy a "jobs program."

"Thank you for bringing us into the 21st century," he told the administration. "This is a policy that has been out of line with reality for the past decade — that we limited the number of courses that a student could transfer in, some minimal number like two. It's not fair to students. It's not fair to our current environment. And it was basically a jobs program. So thank you for bringing us into modern times."

He added, "We need to recognize that we can't be all things to all people. If people can learn from other sources besides District 205, they should be able to bring that knowledge and get credit for it in our school district."

Superintendent Keisha Campbell said the proposed change in policy typically would go through a board committee first, but the district thought it was important to get the issue to the board right away. And Assistant Superintendent Kevin Rubenstein said the new policy helps the district be competitive with its neighbors.

Officials said they had a procedure to ensure that only appropriate coursework from out-of-district sources is approved.

The board unanimously voted for the policy change.