Dist. 204 to study population trends to weigh future school boundaries
Indian Prairie Unit District 204 will be studying the demographics in parts of Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield to determine if boundary changes will be needed to address school crowding.
The school board on Monday voted unanimously to hire RSP & Associates, a Kansas-based enrollment consulting firm, to conduct a study of socioeconomic data, population density, home values, census data, birthrates and land use.
Jay Strang, chief school business official, said the $53,500 study is expected to be complete by early fall. It will update a similar review completed in 2012 by the same firm.
"With the economic downturn, the zoning changes of some vacant land and overcrowding issues at some of our schools, it's time for us to examine this again," Strang said.
Once data comes in, the school board will have decisions to make about attendance areas, facilities and programs including alternative high school and special education.
Attendance areas might need adjustments to balance numbers of students assigned to each school, especially among elementary buildings.
On the north side, Brookdale Elementary is in line to have 605 students next year - 103 percent of the 585 students it can hold without having to use art and music spaces as regular classrooms. But on the south, Builta, Graham and Kendall elementaries all are projected to have roughly 335 students - 44 percent of the kids they're designed to handle.
School board members said they'll lean on the RSP & Associates study to determine if that population spread will continue long term or if new development in south Naperville and Aurora will send more students to the half-empty schools without requiring boundary adjustments.
"This is a group we used before and they were very accurate. We were very happy with the results we had before," school board President Lori Price said. "It makes sense for me in my mind to go back to this group again."
Demographic data also will help the district decide what to do with its Indian Plains and Wheatland buildings, both of which are filled with several competing uses and both of which need repairs.
Indian Plains, which hosts two alternative high school programs, needs between $1.5 million and $1.9 million of renovations if it is to remain in service because the core of the building - from 1929 - is past its 75-year life expectancy.
Wheatland, which hosts the STEPS program for students with disabilities between ages 18 and 22, also could need changes because the program is competing for space with food service management offices, district records storage and grounds crews.
Administrators have asked the school board to decide by Oct. 1 whether to keep the alternative high school programs at Indian Plains and renovate the building for $1.5 million, turn the building into an elementary school for $1.9 million, or tear it down for $650,000.
Strang said RSP & Associates will present its findings to the board before Oct. 1 to allow the decisions to be made.