D300 Board Holds Fast Session

The District 300 Board of Education met briefly Monday to award a new contract for taxi service for special education or homeless students attending private placements for the coming year.  Since there are only three taxi companies in the Chicago area certified to provide the service it wasn't a very tough call.  Trustees picked a Mount Prospect company whose bid will probably cost about the same as last year, $300,000.

Some of the cost's reimbursed, however. Special Education student costs are covered at 80 percent while homeless students are covered at 30 percent by the State, according to Transportation Director Donna Borden.

Separately, after the meeting Board President Anne Miller said with the start of the new school year only seven weeks away, classes might have to begin without a new teachers' contract in place.  She said negotiations with the teachers' union were still underway adding, "we're certainly not at an impasse."  The latest version of the District's budget for the coming year assumes no overall salary increase but about two percent more expense for added seniority and credentials.