Dist. 220 boundary maps revealed

After more than a year of work, the committee charged with trying to re-divide elementary school attendance boundaries in Barrington Area Unit District 220 has unveiled its final product.

During a special meeting Thursday, the district's enrollment monitoring committee released details on four different attendance boundary maps it is passing on to the school board for its review.

The school board has the final say on all attendance boundary changes in the district.

Committee co-chair Sandra Ficke-Bradford said with some schools crowded and others not nearly at capacity, the goal of the panel was to try and make sure there was better equity across the district.

"Each map looks at this from a different angle and different viewpoint," Ficke-Bradford said.

The final maps show anywhere from 180 to 235 students changing schools over the next two years. Most of the changes are being proposed for the start of the 2008-2009 year, however some would not go into effect until 2009-2010.

The first map has 180 students in six different areas moving schools. The largest shift is 60 students from Barbara B. Rose School to Hough Street School.

A total of 183 students in four different areas would be moved in the second map, with the largest group, 60, going from Rose to Countryside School.

In the third map, a total of 188 students in five different areas would be forced to attend a new school. The largest group is 94 students moving from Rose to Countryside.

The final map moves 235 students in seven different areas, the greatest number, to new schools. The biggest shift is 88 students moving from Rose to Grove Avenue School.

The maps will be officially presented to the District 220 school board Tuesday.

Committee co-chair Joe Ruffolo acknowledged it is hard to make everyone happy in a process like this.

"If we felt there was a perfect (map), then we would have only showed you one," Ruffolo said. "(The maps) are not perfect, but they represent a tremendous amount of work."

While the easy thing may be to keep the boundaries as they are, Ficke-Bradford said that won't solve the district's problems.

"If we do nothing, that makes everyone happy because no one has to move," she said. "But the overcrowding and inequity will still exist."

After the maps are presented to the school board on Tuesday, members will spend at least 30 days studying them before making a final decision.

"They may choose one of the proposals, a fusion of three of the proposals or none of the proposals," Ruffolo said.

To view the four different maps, visit www.cusd220.org.