Dist. 220 board leaning toward redistricting map
No final decision has been made, but the Barrington Area Unit District 220 school board appears to be leaning toward one of four proposals for elementary redistricting.
This week, for the first time, board members shared their opinions publicly on the proposals being considered.
After a lengthy discussion, the board appeared to be favoring Map G, with minor adjustments.
Giving immediate relief from crowding to Barbara B. Rose School in South Barrington and providing efficient transportation are among the reasons Map G is getting support.
"All of those reasons tended to drive the group to focus on Map G," board President Brian Battle said.
Map G would reassign five different areas, with about 132 students total, to different schools next year. The largest of those areas is in South Barrington north of Mundhank Road, east of Barrington Road and south of Palatine Road.
Not including in the reassigned areas on that map is a small area on North Avenue in Barrington. It had originally been slated to move from Hough School to Roslyn Road School in Map G, but on Wednesday the board agreed not to relocate that section and its 10 students.
Board member Penny Kazmier said she favors Map G because it moves a large number of students out of Rose, which has the greatest space crunch.
"Some of the other maps didn't accomplish that," she said.
The map also spares most of the new Woods of South Barrington from having to move out of Rose, which is the closest to their homes.
Michele Evans, a Woods resident, said she thought Map G would be a good choice by the board.
"If they are looking for the long term, I think Map G makes the most sense," Evans said.
Battle said the board is also working on a policy for how to deal with the issue of "grandfathering" in students when the changes are made. The board might allow fourth- and fifth-graders to remain at their current schools when the changes go into effect.
The map also puts the Savannah and Pheasant Ridge subdivisions in Lake Barrington on notice that they could be moved in the future.
That area would move only if a portion of The Woods that is currently undeveloped is eventually built out.
"I was really drawn to the whole phasing-in idea," Kazmier said.
The board has asked the administration take a closer look at Map G and the number of students who would be affected based on the area that was removed, as well as what kind of impact grandfathering would have on those numbers.
The board, Battle said, could approve the redistricting plans at its March 4 meeting.
To view Map G, visit www.cusd220.org.