Elgin School District U46’s Enrollment and Facilities Committee members are reviewing attendance boundary changes that would affect at least 13 elementary schools, most of them in Elgin.
The committee, made up of about 30 volunteer parents and taxpayers from the U46 Citizens Advisory Council who represent specific schools, probably will make its final recommendations when it meets on May 5. The proposals then will be explained at public “feedback” sessions before being approved or changed by the full Citizens Advisory Council, the U46 administration and the board of education.
The committee has been running behind schedule for the school board to make final decisions by next January, and the school-closing issue has been complicated by CEO Tony Sanders’ recent announcement that the administration may want to start a magnet school in a closed elementary school building. So the committee has decided to concentrate now only on the most pressing attendance issue — changing attendance areas so as to end congestion at 13 elementary schools that are overcrowded or are projected to become so. Those changes would go into effect in fall 2016.
Committee Co-Chair Roger Wallace and hired demographer Bruce Silva said the goals of the boundary changes are to eliminate the need for mobile classrooms and to make every school have from 65 to 85 percent as many students as the school can hold. Based on those guidelines, Silva and Wallace told the committee Tuesday 13 schools either have too many students now or are expected to have too many by five years from now.
Using maps that show a dot at the home of each student who attends each school, Silva recommended the following changes:
Otter Creek School on Elgin’s far southwest side, projected to have 181 too many students, would give an area that now holds 87 children to Fox Meadow School in South Elgin. That area lies west of McLean Boulevard and north of Bode Road and, Silva noted, actually is closer to Fox Meadow than it is to Otter Creek. “It turns out that Otter Creek covers a lot of ground and the school isn’t near where any of the students live,” Silva said. The change would still leave Otter Creek with almost 100 more students than the desired 85 percent occupancy level, but Silva said moving more would require drastic movements to far-off Clinton School.
Laurel Hill School in Hanover Park, projected to have 137 too many students in five years, would transfer an area that now holds 122 students to Parkwood School in Streamwood. The area affected lies on the southwest corner of Laurel Hill’s attendance area.
Coleman School on Elgin’s northeast side, projected to have 113 too many kids, would transfer an area with 60 students to McKinley School in Elgin. That area is in the “old Sherman Hospital” neighborhood and actually is closer to McKinley, Silva noted.
Lincoln School in Hoffman Estates, projected to have 96 too many, would transfer an area with 90 students to Ronald O’Neal School in Elgin. That area lies along the east side of Dundee Avenue and again is closer to O’Neal than it is to Lincoln.
Channing School on Elgin’s near east side, projected to reach 115 too many, would transfer an area with 55 students to Garfield School on Elgin’s southeast side and an area with 48 students to Huff School on Elgin’s southeast side. The areas affected lie along the southwest side of Villa Street.
Harriet Gifford School on Elgin’s southwest side, projected to have 40 too many, would transfer an area with 42 students to Lowrie School on the city’s southwest side. The area affected is along the south side of Walnut Avenue between Wilcox Avenue and Gertrude Street.
Seven other schools either have more than the 85 percent capacity of students or are projected to have that in five years. But because they are close to the 85 percent level, are expected to drop in enrollment or will be affected by new housing construction or changes in special educational programs, Silva recommended leaving their boundaries unchanged until after the enrollment numbers for the coming fall become available. Those schools are Liberty and Nature Ridge in Bartlett, Sunnydale in Streamwood, Ontarioville in Hanover Park, and Century Oaks, Creekside and Hillcrest on Elgin’s northwest side.
However, committee members representing Century Oaks and Creekside objected. They said their schools are more overcrowded than the statistics indicate.
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According to the official figures, Creekside has room for 157 more students this year. “Yet we still have a mobile, no art room and no music room,” Creekside representative Christopher Swan said.
Similarly, Century Oaks rep David Marsh said his school, with an official enrollment of 89.6 percent of capacity, has two mobile classrooms and some of its classrooms really can hold fewer than a typical number of children because they house special programs, such as a split-grade Dual Language Learning class.
Marsh argued that a better solution to the overcrowding at adjoining Century Oaks, Creekside and Hillcrest would be to convert the Illinois Park School building on Wing Street in Elgin from its present use for preschool and kindergarten classes into a regular elementary school.
“But then I’d have to find 18 classrooms somewhere for preschool and all-day kindergarten,” said U46 Chief Operating Officer Jeff King.
“Why do we have to put those anywhere?” responded Marsh. “Why should pre-K students take precedence over (older) kids who live in that area?”
The committee is likely to discuss that issue further on May 5.
Silva said that when most school districts change elementary attendance boundaries, they let the previous year’s fifth-graders and their brothers and sisters continue to attend the original school. But Wallace said that still remains to be settled in U46.
The committee’s recommendations about changing high school and middle school boundaries, possibly closing an underused school or turning it into a magnet school, and other possible attendance changes won’t be discussed until next school year and wouldn’t go into effect until fall 2017.
Wallace also announced that Carol Dimitroff has agreed to replace Sue Kerr as the committee’s co-chairperson. Kerr was elected to the board of education in the April 7 election.