'Oversight' Leads to LW 210 Refunding $400,000 in Wrongly Charged Driver's Ed Fees

Lincoln-Way District 210 will refund $400,000 in driver's ed fees greater than what students should have had to pay, after a blunder involving a state waiver and the district's eligibility.

Officials notified district parents via email last week that a 2010 waiver from the Illinois State Board of Education allowing the district to charge $350 for each student taking driver's ed had expired. Without that waiver, the district could only charge a fee of $50 for this current year, rendering a refund necessary.

Superintendent Scott Tingley called the mistake "an oversight."

"It won't happen again," Tingley told the Chicago Tribune Monday.

State law dictates that districts can charge up to $50 per student for driver's education, but if granted a waiver by ISBE, can charge more than $250. Though the district had previously obtained the waiver, officials were sent a courtesy email warning of its expiration.

Tingley said those parents impacted should expect a refund within 30 days, but the money might do little to ease parents' ever-growing fears of the district's financial mismanagement.

"It's just one of those things that's like, 'Oh come on, when is this going to end at this school district?'" Lincoln-Way North parent Robin Gareiss told the Tribune.