First Reading of Gift Policy Gets School Board Approval

Elmhurst District 205 School Board approved the first reading of a revised policy on gifts to the district Monday.

The issue arose at an Oct. 25 School Board meeting, when a donation of $1,300 worth of Smart Boards for Edison School was up for board approval. They approved the donation, but board members said they were concerned that such gifts could cause unequal learning environments between schools.

The district's Policy Committee has been reviewing the policy on acceptance of gifts since that time.

"We discussed equity and correlating contributions with the goals and objectives of our strategic and facilities plans," Policy Committee member John McDonough said Monday.

He also said the policy needed to be updated to protect the district from lawsuits. The current policy just needed a few adjustments to the language, he said.

"When we reviewed the current policy, we determined that there really isn't anything that big that needed fixing," he said. "We decided to state more explicitly what the policy already said: Gifts accepted by the district are accepted without legal conditions."

He said the board intends to continue to accept donations and assign them to the locations for which they were intended by the donors.

"That being said, in the unlikely event that there is ever a need to reallocate district resources among and between our schools to keep our commitment to educate every child in an equitable manner, we need to make those decisions in a context and in an environment that does not involve the risk of a lawsuit," McDonough said. "We needed to clearly state that these gifts will not be accepted with legal conditions, because we need to have those discussions here in the board room, not in a courtroom with lawyers billing us for their time."

The need for an updated policy is a direct result of the generosity of Elmhurst residents and community groups, he said.

"The issue arises because we have a great community that has stepped up," he said. "They are caring, dedicated and have shown willingness to contribute to our community and the learning environment for our kids. We are grateful to have received numerous donations from various organizations."