Grade levels won't be moved if Kaneland referendum fails

If a Kaneland building referendum fails in February, the only options to relieve crowding are increasing class sizes, adding mobiles or implementing split shifts.

Everything else is off the table, the Kaneland school board said Monday night.

The board approved a position statement saying grade levels would not be moved if the $65 million referendum -- including a new middle school -- failed.

The board had previously discussed moving the sixth grade into the elementary schools or changing the district's organization to grade centers.

"Every way we looked at it, we ended up with mobiles," said board member Cheryl Krauspe. "It was very limited."

The statement also said that regardless of whether a referendum passes, middle school boundaries would not be determined until next school year.

That means families of middle schoolers would not know if they would go to the new middle school before the referendum.

Because the district's enrollment numbers can change so quickly, it's better to make those decisions closer to the date they would be implemented, said Superintendent Charles McCormick.

"If we have another set of numbers and then embark on the boundary process then, that makes a lot more sense to me," he said.

The motion passed 5-0. Board members Bob Myers and Deborah Grant were absent, but both had previously said they supported the position statement.