U-46 panel calls for boundary changes
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Elgin Area School District U-46 should consider changing its attendance boundaries and closing a school to shift students from more crowded to less crowded schools, the district’s Citizens Advisory Council recommended this week.
The recommendation from the group of parents and residents should not come as a surprise, as the district started work on new boundaries last year.
That work, though, was stopped at the last minute, and boundary changes were pushed back two years, because of the district’s budget shortfall.
Because of ongoing state budget concerns and an increase in the apparent capacity of schools because of larger class sizes, boundary changes will probably not be revisited next year, U-46 spokesman Tony Sanders said.
“There has been no further discussion of taking a look at boundaries,” Sanders said. “There has been no discussion on looking to close or revamp a school.”
But the advisory council’s work refocuses attention on the utilization of the 53 schools in the district and could be the basis for a future effort to redraw the district’s boundaries.
The council, which focused on the district’s 40 elementary schools, identified five schools that will be near or above 100 percent of capacity by the 2015-16 school year: Ontarioville and Laurel Hill in Hanover Park, Lincoln and Timber Trails in Hoffman Estates and Nature Ridge in Bartlett.
“We recommend that the district revisit boundary changes ... before the situation becomes really critical,” advisory council member Gary Percy said.
The panel also identified 10 schools that are at or below 65 percent of capacity: Sunnydale and Ridge Circle in Streamwood; Sheridan and Huff in Elgin; Spring Trail in Carol Stream; Sycamore Trails, Centennial and Prairieview in Bartlett; Wayne; and Horizon in Hanover Park.
The Citizens Advisory Council recommends the district study the possibility of closing one of those schools or converting it for non-classroom use.
U-46 has not implemented boundary changes since 2004. Those changes sparked five minority families to file a lawsuit the next year alleging the district shifted white students to newer schools while keeping black and Hispanic students in older, overcrowded schools. The lawsuit is still pending as a U.S. District Court judge decides whether the case should go forward.
Another round of boundary changes was delayed in May 2010 after U-46 increased its class sizes to a maximum of 28 in kindergarten through third grade and 33 in grades four through six. That decision essentially created capacity at U-46 schools and saved an estimated $6.6 million.
