Why isn't school overcrowding being eased on both sides of the Fox?

Community Unit District 300 is having some problems with crowded schools on the east side of the river in Carpentersville.

This must have some District 300 voters scratching their heads. Those voters will end up paying roughly $300 million to pay back construction bonds for new schools.

It remains to be seen how much of that money will go toward alleviating the limited classroom space on the east side, particularly in Carpentersville's Perry and Golfview elementary schools.

So far, the three major referendum projects -- Gary D. Wright and Gilberts elementary schools in Hampshire and Gilberts, respectively, and Hampshire High School -- have all been on the district's west side.

But the door is not shut on construction east of the Fox River.

There is still one more elementary school slated to be built with money from the bond sale, and the location of that school hasn't yet been determined.

The district's original plan was to put the school on the west side, but the opening of the Cambridge Lakes Charter School in Pingree Grove may change that equation, according to Chuck Bumbales, assistant superintendent of operations and planning.

The charter school has space for about 500 district students, and with the expansion planned at the school, it could accommodate double that number.

This could ease pressure on west-side schools and open the window for building on the east side.

District 300 board President Joe Stevens seems to be interested in this possibility. Stevens wants the administration to look into the cost and feasibility of adding on to existing east-side schools, or building a new one when the money is available.

Why didn't the district foresee the problems on the east side during the run-up to the 2006 referendum?

Superintendent Ken Arndt said the district knew about the east-side issues but didn't have any recourse.

"It was (foreseen), but what are you going to do?" Arndt said.

The district needs to direct its energies to answering that very question -- without leaving any of its options off the table.

College fair coming up: While start-of-school anxieties have dissipated by now, another kind of worry may be creeping into the heads of your high school junior or senior: Where am I going to college?

McHenry Community College is hoping to simplify the process of learning about what different schools have to offer at its College Fair 2007.

The fair, which will be attended by more than 100 representatives from schools around the country, will take place from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 7 in the college's multipurpose room and commons area.

You can attend the college fair if you are a high school junior or senior, a parent of an 11th- or 12th-grader, a college student looking to transfer to a new school or an adult interested in returning to school.

For more information, contact Kellie Carper-Sowiak at kcarper@mchenry.edu or call (815) 455-8670.