Court Opinion

ID: 9542404
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:33:49.019712+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:07:50.424176
License: Public Domain

JUSTICE COOK, dissenting: I respectfully dissent. The majority concludes that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by concluding that Keller had the ability to pay for David’s educational expenses but did abuse its discretion by directing Keller to pay for the school of David’s choice when an adequate public school was available. Reevaluating the evidence, the majority concludes that Sussen did not present evidence that the extra $17,345 it would cost for David to go to Lincoln was reasonable, necessary, or appropriate. I disagree. Sussen presented evidence that the Lincoln program lasted only 15 months and focused solely on David’s area of interest, high-performance automotive technology, and that two well-known companies recruited from Lincoln. On the other hand, Shawnee would take at least 24 months to complete and would involve taking general-education courses, and no evidence suggested that Shawnee offered a high-performance program or that top automotive companies recruited Shawnee graduates. Custodial parents are not free to choose a more expensive school without reason. As the majority noted, choosing a more expensive school is only appropriate if the custodial parent shows that “(1) special programs or attributes of the school make the additional costs reasonable under the circumstances or (2) the more expensive school was necessary or more appropriate for the child.” 382 Ill. App. 3d at 881, citing Schmidt, 292 Ill. App. 3d at 239-40, 684 N.E.2d at 1362-63. Such restrictions are necessary to prevent cases where a custodial parent may abuse his or her position of decision-making authority by allowing a child to choose a more expensive school without good reason and then stick the noncustodial parent with a larger bill. This does not appear to be a case where the child is ambivalent about where he wants to go to college, so the custodial parent picks the more expensive school to stick the noncustodial parent with a larger bill. First, Sussen and David together are paying two-thirds of the more expensive school. Sussen, a single mother who also cares for a 12-year-old daughter for whom she receives no child support and who clearly does not make more than $26,000 a year, is not financially able to pick an expensive school just to spite Keller. David found a school that fit his career choice and presented the court with a reasonable explanation as to why the more expensive school was more appropriate for him. Second, Sussen and David are not asking that Keller pay a great amount more. According to the majority’s figure, they are asking for Keller to pitch in $5,781 more (one-third of the extra $17,345 it would cost for David to go to Lincoln), so that David may go to the school more tailored to his aspirations. Finally, the evidence shows that David wants to be an automotive mechanic who works with high-performance automotive technology. If he were forced to go to Shawnee, he would have to take nonautomotive courses and attend for nine more months, and he could not focus on high-performance technology. The trial court concluded that the evidence showed that Lincoln offers special programs or has attributes that made the additional costs reasonable or at least that the school was more appropriate for David’s chosen career path, justifying the added costs. This decision was not an abuse of discretion. While Sussen and David could have aided their case had they presented more evidence regarding the special traits of Lincoln’s program and how it was more appropriate given David’s ambitions, their failure to do so should not be fatal. Sussen and David presented enough evidence to find that it was necessary or appropriate for David to attend Lincoln. When some evidence is present to support a trial court’s decision, this court should not reweigh that evidence in order to reverse.