Boundary maps for District 220 to be unveiled

The process of drawing new elementary attendance boundaries in Barrington Area Unit District 220 is coming to a close, with final recommendations set to be unveiled in the coming days.

The district's enrollment monitoring committee will present its final proposal to the community during a meeting scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at Barrington High School, 616 W. Main St.

The revised maps to be shown Thursday are the same ones the school board will take up for consideration Jan. 15.

"We thought it might be a good idea to let the community have a chance to sound off on these final maps," said Joe Ruffolo, a committee co-chairman.

The attendance maps will be presented a little more than two months after the committee's preliminary proposals were unveiled.

At that time, the committee offered three different maps, each having certain pockets of students moving to new elementary schools.

Since then, Ruffolo said his panel has read hundreds of e-mails from residents, met with many in person to discuss their concerns and reviewed new enrollment numbers to come up with the final recommendations.

While the committee used past public feedback to adjust the maps, Ruffolo said that most likely won't happen this time around.

"We will not necessarily use those comments to make any changes," Ruffolo said.

Even though the maps will be presented to the school board the next week, Superintendent Tom Leonard said he still thinks it's important for the community to get a chance to review them.

"We wanted an opportunity to have some dialogue from the (enrollment monitoring committee) to the community," Leonard said.

The committee has been working over the past year to figure out a way to best divide the district's 2,700 elementary students.

Once the final committee recommendation is given, school board President Brian Battle said the board will spend time deliberating before making a final decision. The board has the final say on any attendance changes.

He said the board's intention is to have a decision made before the end of the current school year.

For more information on the committee's work, visit www.cusd220.lake.k12.il.us/. The proposed maps are to be posted there as well.