The West Aurora School Board Monday night decided to hold off on a decision about withdrawing from the John C. Dunham STEM Partnership School.
The board voted 4-3 to table a motion that would have authorized West Aurora School District Superintendent Jeff Craig to submit a letter of intent to withdraw from the school.
Voting in favor were board members Ira Lathan, Thomas St. Jules, Valerie Brown Dykstra and Christopher Sparks. Voting the other way were board President Robert Gonzalez and board members Richard Kerns and Melody Saperston.
The John C. Dunham STEM Partnership School, located at Aurora University, has an enrollment of 200 elementary and middle school students and has teaching staff from four participating public school districts – Batavia School District 101, East Aurora School District 131, Indian Prairie School District 204 and West Aurora School District 129.
All four districts involved in the STEM Partnership School are discussing disbanding the program, which could take place after the 2021-22 school year if approved.
“While we do not have an answer, it does still warrant further discussion,” Lathan said of the proposal to withdraw from the school.
More Top Picks Best Treadmills For Home And Commercial
The board this week had questions for the superintendent and heard from several parents and students who have objected to the move.
“We owe it to our general public the obligation to discuss this further,” Lathan said.
The school relies on an inquiry-based curriculum developed by interdisciplinary teams of educational and business partners. The STEM Partnership School’s students are selected in district-based lotteries, according to documents.
The money to build the school came from Aurora University, the state of Illinois, the Dunham Fund, business partners and individual donors, documents show.
The school’s operations are coordinated through a five-member governing board comprised of the four member public school districts’ superintendents and the president of Aurora University.
While the academic achievements of students in the school exceed state averages, according to officials, the governing board’s focus has been on the larger impact of the school on teaching and learning in the members districts themselves.
The superintendents are advocating for using the STEM money being spent on the school to instead be used to expand offerings at the member school districts to serve more students.
Craig said a lot has changed in the district since the school opened. He said the district has expanded its Pathways to Prosperity program at West Aurora High School and an exploratory program at the middle school level. The district also opened the Weisner Family Center for Career Development in 2019 and hired an additional instructor due to interest, he said.
Brown Dykstra wanted to know if there was any merit in suggestions to require tuition and have families pick up the costs of transportation for the STEM Partnership School.
“Tuition poses challenges in the state of Illinois” for public schools, Craig said.
West Aurora School District Assistant Superintendent Angie Smith said that admission to the school now is based on a lottery of interested students, and any change in that could pose issues.
“If you changed it to a tuition-based program, you would completely change the dynamic and you would create equity issues. That may violate the original intent of the legislation because you would cut out a significant portion of the population being able to afford to go to the school,” Smith said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.