School District Says Students Enrolled At Triton Are On Their Own
Five of the six area school districts with high school students enrolled at Triton College pay for tuition. Elmwood Park school district does not.
By Kevin Gosztola, Editor
The Elmwood Park school district offers eligible high school students an “accelerated learning” opportunity that allows them to pursue a high school diploma and an associate’s degree at Triton College simultaneously. However, unlike nearby school districts, students who take courses at Triton must pay for tuition, course materials, and other expenses.
Three Elmwood Park high school students are enrolled in courses at Triton. One of the students, Max Ryczek, told the Elmwood Park Advocate that he feels “unsupported” by the district.
“We should at least have some help with it,” said Max, who is a junior. He wondered if the school district does not see “value in this education.”
Forty-eight students were enrolled in the dual degree or dual credit program for the 2025-2026 school year, and it was the first year that high school students from Elmwood Park participated in the program.
Students from East Leyden, West Leyden, Proviso East, Proviso West, Proviso Academy, and Riverside Brookfield high schools had their tuition covered by their respective school districts. Only Elmwood Park High School students were on their own.
In late May 2025, Max attended orientation at Triton with his aunt Kinga Ryczek. After orientation, Kinga complained to the district’s school board, Dr. Amanda Brode-Rico, the principal of Elmwood Park High School, and Dr. Leah Gauthier, the superintendent.
“Not a single form of district support was provided,” Kinga wrote. “No school representative. No financial assistance. No bookstore voucher. No lunch stipend. No bus transportation. No visible presence or pride.”
“I saw it. I was there. The other districts cheered for their students, took photos with them, and welcomed them into a community of excellence. And our students, our own children, stood alone, trying not to show how it made them feel,” Kinga added.
According to Kinga, Triton staff and program attendees were “stunned” to learn that the district provided “no financial support.”
“They asked us more than once if we were certain. Because what they were seeing didn’t match what they knew to be standard from other districts,” Kinga recalled. “The contrast was impossible to ignore.”
Leyden High School District 212 covers “all of the tuition and fees” for their students “upon successful completion of the program.”
For high school students enrolled in Proviso Township High Schools District 209, there is “no cost to students for tuition, books, fees, etc., assuming they are receiving a passing grade.”
Ridgewood High School District 234 pays for the cost of dual credit courses at Triton as long as their high school students earn “a grade of C or higher.”
High school students from Riverside-Brookfield Township School District 208 do not have to pay tuition expense or any course fees if they “earn a C or better.” The district also offers “transportation on a school minibus.”
But Elmwood Park Community Unit School District expects high school students to pay tuition ($158 per credit). Students take 12-15 credits per semester, which means a year of courses costs over $3000.
Parents or guardians must also cover expenses for course materials as well as the cost of transportation.
On top of that, students receiving financial aid to attend Elmwood Park High School apparently may lose that support if they enroll at Triton.
“[M]y nephew was told that the district would not provide financial support because he is now attending a different school through the Dual Degree Program,” Kinga told school officials. “Yet at the same time, he was asked to pay annual tuition to Elmwood Park High School. How can he be treated as not a student when asking for help, but as a full-paying student when it’s time to collect tuition?”
Max said he was ranked first in his class in terms of GPA when he applied for the dual credit program. He took five Advanced Placement or AP classes his sophomore year, more than any other student. However, AP Chemistry and AP Physics 2, which he wanted to take at the high school this year, were not open.
As Max explained, the superintendent recently raised the enrollment requirement to 15 students. If 15 students are not enrolled in a course, then the high school will not offer the course. Which means students like Max have to go to Triton to take the course, and in order to do so, they must be able to afford the costs.
Max forwarded a letter from his mother to Board of Education President Frank Parisi, who replied on March 10, 2025, as if he had nothing to do with the decision.
“Unfortunately, the school board has made the decision that students would be required to pay for tuition, materials, and transportation to and from campus if enrolling in this Triton opportunity,” Parisi declared. “Hopefully, [Max] will be able to take advantage of this opportunity, but if not, Max will still have the standard high-quality education that Elmwood Park High School provides for all of our students.”
But Max told the newsletter that he could not receive a “high-quality education” at the high school because he “maxed out on all available subject courses” and was “on track to take AP Calculus his junior year, and AP Physics 1 and 2 his sophomore and junior year.”
At Triton, Max could take “Calculus I-III,” “Differential Equations,” “Linear Algebra,” and Calculus-based “Physics 1-3.” Those courses are not offered at the high school either.
In July, Dorota Turek, whose daughter Martyna is enrolled in the dual credit program, reached out to the superintendent, along with Max’s mother Ewa. They asked for an explanation for why the school district decided not to support students. The superintendent was unconcerned.
“When District 401 made the decision to try this program out, it was made with the understanding that we support the opportunity but families will have to cover the expenses that I shared in my previous message,” Gauthier responded.
In September 2024, Gauthier presented the dual credit program to the school board. She made it clear in her presentation that students would not be “eligible for financial aid,” and that they “would be required to pay for tuition [and] materials at Triton as well as transportation to and from campus.”
Gauthier mentioned that multiple high schools in the “surrounding” area participate in the dual degree program. However, the superintendent neglected to acknowledge the fact that eligible students in these school districts are not expected to pay tuition.
Minutes for this board meeting indicate that “liability, safety concerns, and financial aide [sic] questions were discussed.” However, the minutes contain no details related to any discussion by school board trustees.
According to the district, it was at the September 2024 meeting that the district decided not to provide financial aid. But there was no vote on the matter so it is unclear what decision was made during the meeting.
The Elmwood Park Advocate tried to obtain video of the September 2024 meeting, but the district denied the newsletter’s Freedom of Information Act request because the video was destroyed. (Ryan Gillespie, an attorney for the district, told the Illinois Attorney General’s office that the video was deleted before the video was requested.)
While the school district will not help gifted and talented students who cannot afford the dual credit program, administrators will gladly use the district’s participation in the program to promote the high school.
On June 10, 2025, Toni Johnson, who works for the Office of Early College Programs at Triton, emailed Brode-Rico. Johnson asked if the high school would like to be featured in “early college marketing materials.”
“We would like to bring our mascot, Troy, to your campus to take a photo alongside your school’s mascot, in front of your school building, or at another well-recognized location on your campus that students strongly associate with their school community,” Johnson said.
Brode-Rico responded, “I am in love with this idea!” “Let’s make this happen,” and, “I’ll see who we can get suited up for this!”
Elmwood Park in general is a disappointment. It is a village but not a community.
Really strong reporting on how policy creates reverse meritocracy. The part about Max being ranked #1 but unable to access AP courses becuse of the 15-student threshold is wild. Districts subsidize dual credit for cost efficiency and student retention, so Elmwood Park's approach seems short sighted. I've watched similar dynamics play out in underfunded districts where gifted programs get cut first.