NO HELP WITH UNIFORM COSTS FOR GARY CHARTER SCHOOL STUDENTS
POST-TRIBUNE
BY: LESLIE JONES McCLOUD

Gary resident Lasandre Polk has four childrena three who need school uniforms.

Her two seventh grade boys and her fifth grade daughter attend the Charter School of the Dunes. Polk said she isn't sure how much uniforms cost at retail outlets.

“The last time I bought the uniforms, I got them from the thrift store,” she said.

She was able to keep her school-age children in uniforms for under $10 but her success was fleeting.

“It didn't do me any good because my son's pants split up the middle because they were already used. I patched them up,” she said.

Inside the north office of the Calumet Township Trustee recently, Polk was talking with a woman who tried to help her. She was told because her children attended a charter school, they could not get any help through the uniform assistance program.

“I don't think she went over my paperwork to see if I qualified for any other help,” Polk said.

She said a relative told her about a school uniform assistance program funded by the Calumet Township Trustee 's Office.

“I hadn't had any plans yet but a couple of days before school, township was helping with uniforms...so I looked at it as a relief,” she said.

Calumet Township Trustee Mary Elgin said the school uniform assistance program is a Gary Community School Corp. collaboration with the Lake County Prosecutor's Office and Lake County Juvenile Court, the Gary Police and Fire departments and several other agencies.

Elgin told the different groups her office could contribute a portion of the $250,000 budget set aside for hardship and emergency cases because the students are residents of Calumet Township.

“We wanted to make sure hardship kids were in uniform. We had been meeting through the summer. I will get clarification of what schools can get free uniforms,” Elgin said.

The program is an initiative between the parties and on behalf of Gary school district students. Charter schools, however, have independent governing bodies that make decisions on their school but they are considered to be public schools.

Elgin said qualifying residents of the township who can prove a financial hardship or qualify for emergency assistance may get a clothing voucher.

“We were doing Gary public schools because of the mandate and because it's a new project for them and a hardship placed on (parents),” she said.

Elgin said Polk may not have qualified for assistance for reasons other than her children are currently schooled outside of the Gary Community School Corp.

She said she would personally look into Polk's situation to see if she could be helped.