Dupage Policy Journal

On the eve of the April 4 consolidated elections, a Downers Grove school board candidate has directed $25,000 in funds from a local non-profit he controls to school leaders backing him.

The districts - Community Unit High School District 99 and Downers Grove School District 58-- announced the donations of $12,573 each from the Downers Grove Roadrunners Soccer Club last week.

Taking public credit for both was Don Renner, 46, the club’s treasurer and a former Republican who is part of a slate for CHSD 99 board with Democrats Kara Casten and Ken Dawson. The slate has teachers' union and school administrator backing.

Downers Grove Roadrunners Inc. is a charitable organization that took in $606,697 in program fees from parents in 2020, the last year in which it filed a public return with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service.

Parents pay between $1,800 and $3,000 per year to the Roadrunners to be part of its travel soccer program, sources tell DuPage Policy Journal.

Last month, CHSD 99 published a memo addressed to Superintendent Hank Thiele, a Renner supporter, saying the district was "excited and appreciative of this donation," which included $3,000 allocated to "special services" at Downers Grove North H.S. and $3,000 for the same at Downers Grove South H.S.

Downers Grove SD 58 Superintendent Kevin Russell issued a press release that includes a quote from Renner on behalf of the Roadrunners Club.

Renner, a lawyer with Westmont-based Klein, Thorpe and Jenkins, said he was glad to "support children’s well-being in our community."

$238M in taxpayer funds spent last year

Public school districts can accept charitable donations. But with government-guaranteed annual funding and the right to levy-- and raise-- property taxes on every home within their boundaries, they rarely receive them.

Last year, the school districts spent a combined $238 million, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. That's up 70 percent from $140 million combined in 2010.

In 2021, CHSD 99 spent $165,274,864 and Downers Grove 58 spent $72,590,155.

In 2010, they spent $82,879,683 and $57,101,725, respectively.

Enrollment at the two districts has grown by three percent over the same period, from 8,900 students in 2010 to 9,180 in 2021.

The CHSD 99 school board currently has seven members--- five Democrats, including Nancy Kupka, Joanna Vazquez Drexler, Jennie Hagstrom, Christopher Espinoza, and Sherell Fuller, and two Republicans,Teresa Pavesich and Michael J. Davenport.

Six candidates-- Renner, Dawson and Casten as well as Republicans Dana Cox, Barbara Allen and Christopher Todd Erickson-- are running for three open spots.

The Downers Grove Roadrunners Club was founded in 1980 by Stan Callahan and Robin Webb.