Parents voice concerns over District 300 dual language program changes

Proposed changes to a dual language program at a Carpentersville elementary school has some parents up in arms.

Algonquin-based Community Unit District 300 wants to consolidate the program from five elementary schools to four starting next fall. Students attending those classes at Parkview Elementary in Carpentersville will be relocated entirely next school year.

Then the program will be phased out at Liberty Elementary School in Carpentersville over five years.

Ultimately, students will be consolidated at Golfview, Lakewood and Meadowdale ­elementary schools, all in Carpentersville, where there is enough room for the dual language program's growth, officials said.

An emergency meeting with administrators last week failed to allay Liberty parents' concerns, said David Rodriguez of Algonquin, whose two children - a fifth-grader and second-grader - have been in the dual language program at Liberty since kindergarten.

"We're concerned because they have completely taken out dual language opportunities on the west side of the Fox River," Rodriguez said. "They are clustering all the dual language schools on the far-east side within a 2-mile radius in Carpentersville."

Liberty fifth-graders normally would feed into Dundee Middle School, but all dual language fifth-grade students are being sent to Carpentersville Middle School instead.

"The entire school of Liberty is going to Dundee Middle School except for this one dual language class," Rodriguez said.

Transportation is another concern. The district is offering to bus dual language students from various hubs, which could take nearly an hour to reach school for some students, Rodriguez said.

Accommodating enrollment growth is the primary reason for the changes, Superintendent Fred Heid said.

"We've seen a drastic increase in the number of students who participate," Heid said. "We are running out of space ... at multiple schools. We may have to explore building a new school on the west side of the district. That's just our current reality."

Liberty and Westfield elementary schools are among those nearly at capacity.

Centralizing the program will help increase instructional support for students and provide teachers opportunities for collaboration and training, Heid said.

The dual language program launched 11 years ago at Liberty with about 25 students in one classroom.

Today, it is offered at five schools and taught in 68 classrooms with 1,446 students, officials said.

District 300's restructuring of dual-languages sites this fall includes:

• Parkview Elementary's dual language sections will move to Lakewood Elementary for grades three through five.

• Students entering kindergarten in the dual language program will attend Golfview, Lakewood or Meadowdale elementary schools.

• All sixth-grade dual language students will attend Carpentersville Middle - 230 fifth-graders will move there this fall.

Consolidating the program will help the district increase enrollment to 1,730 students next year and add 690 students in subsequent years for a total of 2,420 students, officials said.

Existing teachers will be reassigned to schools where students are concentrated.

"We understand families are upset, but right now, this was the best option we saw before us," Heid said.

A group of Liberty parents is expected to speak at Tuesday's school board meeting, 6:30 p.m. in the board room of the District 300 Administration building, 2550 Harnish Drive, Algonquin.