Wednesday, Aug. 14

 

City may change ordinance
to permit CILAs

[AUG. 14, 2002]  The city of Lincoln has scheduled a Sept. 10 public hearing on changing its housing ordinance, the first step in permitting group homes for the developmentally disabled in areas zoned R-1 and avoiding a federal lawsuit.

City Attorney Bill Bates said the new ordinance, drafted with the help of Springfield attorney Tom Kelty, would allow Community Integrated Living Arrangements "as a matter of right" in residential districts that formerly prohibited them.

The move is a response to a lawsuit brought by Charleston Transitional Facility, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation that develops and operates group homes throughout the state. The lawsuit was filed May 2 in U.S. District Court in Springfield after the city refused to issue a building permit for an R-1 zoned lot in Stonebridge subdivision on the west side of town.

David Krchak, attorney for Charleston Transitional Facility who requested the building permit last March, said then the city’s ordinance was illegal because it violated the federal Fair Housing Act. Krchak attended the council’s work session Tuesday evening and said he has reviewed the proposed ordinance and it is "perfectly acceptable." If it is passed, he said, the lawsuit would be "amicably resolved."

Bates said the new ordinance was "not just drafted to make the lawsuit go away, but to be in compliance with the Fair Housing Act."

 

The city’s current ordinance prohibits group homes because of its definition of family as not more than five unrelated individuals. CILAs usually have up to eight residents.

The public hearing is set for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10. The council will vote on the new ordinance at its next regular meeting, Sept. 16. Previously several residents of Stonebridge have attended council meetings to say they opposed having the group home in their neighborhood because they felt it was a business, not a residence.

Krchak said the company he represents has been getting requests for facilities to be built in the Lincoln community, probably because of the downsizing and threatened closing of Lincoln Developmental Center.

 

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"We are being inundated by families asking us to provide housing for adult developmentally disabled individuals in the area," he said.

In other business, the council heard a request from two members of the Main Street Lincoln playground committee, asking if the city could allocate $750 to help provide playground equipment for Scully Park.

The equipment to be bought with city funds would be specially designed for the disabled, according to Marge Aper and Betty Verderber. They said the committee has been working for more than two years to develop the playground, much of which will be accessible to children in wheelchairs.

"It is age appropriate and meets all federal standards for accessibility," Aper said. Equipment includes a sand digger that children in wheelchairs can use, a double bay swing set and a handicapped-accessible play firehouse. She said the Lincoln firefighters union has contributed money toward the firehouse, and the Elks Club and the Knights of Columbus have also given donations.

Mayor Beth Davis asked if the city could allocate $750 from the fund set up with illegal handicapped parking fines.

City Clerk Juanita Josserand said she thought those funds were set aside for building sidewalks and ramps to accommodate the handicapped. Bates said he would look at the way the fund was set up to see whether the donation would be legal.

The council also heard an announcement that the first fund-raiser for next year’s sesquicentennial celebration, a street dance, will be Sept. 21 from 6 p.m. to midnight. Preliminary plans call for closing McLean Street from Pulaski to Broadway for the dance area.

[Joan Crabb]

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Illinois Virtual High School
now more affordable

Lower course costs, added course offerings and new scholarships expand educational opportunities to Illinois students via the Internet

[AUG. 14, 2002]  SPRINGFIELD — Gov. George Ryan and Illinois State Board of Education Superintendent Robert Schiller announced Tuesday that the Illinois Virtual High School has lowered tuition costs for fall semester online classes from $300 to $195 and will offer over 800 scholarships to low-income districts and students as a result of new state and federal funding.

"Making IVHS courses more affordable is now possible and is a step in the right direction toward expanding student opportunities and to raising achievement levels for all students," Gov. Ryan said.

Fall courses begin Aug. 26, and registration runs through Sept. 15. Courses are open to high school students in public and private schools and to home-schooled students. IVHS offers classes in foreign languages, high-level mathematics and sciences, and other courses that might not otherwise be available to all students.

"I look forward to a growing student enrollment while watching course costs decrease even further as Illinois builds its core curriculum and elective course offerings over the coming months," Superintendent Schiller said.

 

IVHS places emphasis on offering curriculum that ensures students can meet the Illinois Learning Standards. The fall semester offers 76 full-semester courses and 12 Advanced Placement review and ACT courses. Costs for AP and ACT review courses are $49 per student.

"This will afford schools who have been unable to offer a wide array of courses, such as foreign languages or advanced courses outside the main curriculum, that opportunity,” the governor said.

“There are places where teachers cannot be recruited to teach certain subjects and other schools where only a small number of students interested in a specific topic do not economically justify a course,” he added. “In these situations, the Virtual High School will be a valuable mechanism for offering quality instruction to those who are interested, regardless of the geographic location or the wealth of the district.”

 

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The Illinois State Board of Education is offering two each AP and non-AP course scholarships to participating high schools or districts for the 2002- 2003 school year. The school or district must be a member of the IVHS network and the high school must have 25 percent or more low-income students.

In addition, four AP exam review scholarships will be available to students enrolled in face-to-face AP courses. Students taking an IVHS AP course during the spring semester of the upcoming school year also will have access to the online AP exam review.

IVHS began in January 2001 as an initiative of Gov. Ryan to provide expanded opportunities for high school students. Both public and private school students throughout the state have taken advantage of this learning opportunity via the Internet.

To register for classes, students should contact their high school guidance counselor. For more information, go to www.ivhs.org.

[Illinois Government News Network
press release]

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