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U-46 Targets Recruiters for Military Students Get Some Help Avoiding Calls

Posted on: Wednesday, 17 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Elgin Area School District U-46 is making it easier for high school students to avoid calls from military recruiters looking for teens to enlist, officials said.

Students this year have been given forms to keep their personal information from being added to a list of potential recruits, said Patrick Broncato, the district's chief legal officer.

The paperwork, included this month in registration packets, allows students in the five U-46 high schools to stop their information from being sent to the military.

Instructions on how to stay off recruitment rosters has been in the student handbook for two years, but district officials recently decided to make the information more widespread, Broncato said.

"This was not something that was done because of a specific incident or calls, but a parent gave us a good idea," he said.

The No Child Left Behind law requires public schools to provide student names, contact information, even their activities, to qualify for federal funds.

Unless a student opts out of the program, the information is passed on to recruiters.

Nancy Burnidge, a retired elementary school teacher and U-46 parent, said she lobbied for the district to give parents and students more information about their options.

"The military having your information should be up to you," Burnidge said.

U-46 is not the first suburban school district to make information on avoiding recruiters more available.

St. Charles School District 303 did so, even posting a form on its Web site, after parents complained when recruiters called their children at home, said Tom Hernandez, a District 303 spokesman.

"These were not gentle, 'Oh by the way' types of phone calls," Hernandez said. "They were calling because Sgt. So-And-So was on the other line and says I got this information about your kid."

Most branches of the military, especially the Army and Marines, have faced challenges meeting their monthly enlistment goals, in part because of the likelihood of seeing combat in Iraq or Afghanistan.

Bill Kelo, a spokesman for the Army's Chicago-area recruiting command, said the Army respects that some students and parents don't want their names released, which in some ways is an asset to recruiters.

"If there are people who don't want to be contacted, then we don't want to contact them," Kelo said. "It helps us refine our efforts."

Source: Daily Herald; Arlington Heights, Ill.

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