District 201-U’s new boundaries for its school for kindergarteners through 4th graders could help end a lawsuit against the Crete-Monee school system, said Supt. Steven K. Humphrey.
The boundaries, which will become effective in the 1996-97 school year, divide the 1,420 pupils in kindergarten through 4th grade among four schools in the 78-square-mile district. The boundaries are based on school size and local population density, said Humphrey.
The district busses 300 African-American pupils from University Park to predominantly white district schools that house kindergarteners through through 8th graders.
In its 1990 lawsuit against the school district, University Park alleged that busing was one of several discriminatory practices by the district.
Humphrey, who was not affiliated with the district at the time the suit was filed, said the goal of the new boundaries “is to keep the kids closest to their home area.”
Humphrey and special education administrator Jeanne Wildermuth established the boundaries. They replace a written boundary system that relied on landmarks, such as a grove of trees that is no longer standing.
District officials this week mailed letters and copies of maps depicting the boundaries to parents of the affected students.
The new boundaries, approved this week by the Crete-Monee Board of Education, are part of a plan that establishes a facility for district pupils in the 5th and 6th grades. The facility, which currently serves students in kindergarten through 8th grade, is in rural Crete Township, south of Crete.
Crete Elementary, in Crete, will serve 640 pupils from Crete Township. Hickory Elementary, in University Park, will serve 400 pupils from the village and far western Crete Township.
Talala Elementary, in Park Forest, will serve 240 pupils from the northern portion of Monee Township and northwestern Crete Township.
Monee Elementary will serve 140 pupils from the village and nearby unincorporated Monee Township.