Parent asks Algonquin to intervene in District 300 boundary issue

A parent irate about a plan for proposed boundary changes in Community Unit District 300 has a message for Algonquin's board of trustees: Get us out of this mess.

Parent Tim Fisher this week showed up at a village board meeting, asking trustees to stand with him in rejecting one of the district's three plans for boundary changes - one that he says creates a school for haves and the other for have nots, although the change will not affect either of his two children.

All three proposals aim to alleviate crowded middle and high schools, shifting students to under-capacity schools - especially to the new Hampshire High School that is set to open next year at Big Timber and Ketchum roads.

The scenario at the heart of Fisher's concern is proposal 6, which would switch a total of 628 students to other schools.

Under the proposal:

• 64 students would move from Carpentersville Middle School to Algonquin Middle School;

• 53 students would move from Dundee Middle School to Hampshire Middle School.

• 303 students would move from Jacobs High School to Hampshire High.

• 208 students would move from Dundee-Crown High School to Jacobs.

Fisher, a member of the district's attendance boundary committee, fears this plan would hurt diversity, creating a school - Jacobs -for middle class and mostly white students and the other - Dundee-Crown - for low-income and mostly minority pupils.

According to the boundary map, the students plucked to relocate from Dundee-Crown to Jacobs would come from East Dundee, West Dundee, Barrington Hills, Algonquin and Sleepy Hollow - all of which are solidly middle class and predominantly white towns.

"Why do we want to decrease diversity at the school to further encourage the lack of diversity that exists at another one?" asked Fisher, an 18-year Algonquin resident. "I don't want to see them create two high schools - one of haves and one of have nots."

Nobody from the group that came up with the scenario could be reached for comment, but Associate Superintendent David Scarpino, who helped oversee the entire committee, said everyone has a right to his opinion.

He also encourages board members and all interested parties to attend the next information session in January, where the public gets to comment on every plan.

"That's the beauty of America. They have the opportunity to voice their opinions on a variety of matters," Scarpino said.

Village President John Schmitt, meanwhile, says village board members shouldn't do anything until they're well-versed on all three plans.

"I would suggest that each of us … study them before we go any further," he said.

If the board does speaks out, it wouldn't be the first time.

In the late 1990s when the school district discussed sending Algonquin high school students to both Dundee-Crown and Jacobs, the board made public statements against the move, said Trustee Robert Smith, who was on the board at that time.

The controversial plan eventually went through - previously, Algonquin students only attended Jacobs.

And Smith isn't afraid to speak out if something doesn't seem right with the district's existing proposals.

"We understand and appreciate that the school district is its own governing body, but when we see things that may have an impact on our residents, especially when its perceived to be a negative impact, we will at least make a statement on it."

The district will hold a final public hearing on the three plans from 9 a.m. to noon Jan. 12 at Jacobs High School.

Public comments and e-mails from previous sessions will be posted on the district's Web site, www.d300.org

Board members are due to vote on one of the plans early next year.