District 300 parents offer little input on east-side overcrowding

Many parents in Community Unit District 300 are watching with interest as the school board weighs three plans to fix crowding in the district's east-side schools.

But school board members won't get to hear what most of those parents think of the three proposals.

Despite a respectable turnout at three public hearings on the plans Friday and Monday, few parents decided to make an official comment to the board.

The plans would add classrooms to east-side schools, shift hundreds of students to less-crowded schools and cost between $5.3 million and $16.8 million.

Only about five parents commented at the hearings, district officials said, and just one had e-mailed a comment about the east-side plans as of Monday evening.

District 300 officials said they were encouraged by the turnout -- an estimated 100 people attended one of the three hearings -- but had hoped more parents would offer feedback.

"I think at least they have been given the opportunity," said Luz Baez, director of title programs and co-chair of the eastside study committee. "We tried to reach the bilingual community as much as we could."

All of the Carpentersville schools that would be affected by the plans are mostly Hispanic and low-income, with high rates of students who speak limited English.

Guadalupe Granda of Carpentersville attended the hearing at Perry to ask for more bilingual programs at Meadowdale Elementary School, where his son will attend school in the fall.

"We were interested in my son learning both languages," Granda said.

Juan Ruiz said the east-side plans were a positive step but too little, too late for his family. He still hopes to transfer his kids from Perry Elementary School to another school in the district.

"I gave it a chance to see if something happened. Nothing happened," Ruiz said. "I hope they make a difference so the next kids that go there can get a good education."

Perry Principal Craig Zieleniewski said the plans, which would cut Perry's enrollment by 230 and expand preschool and full-day kindergarten programs, will help him and his staff to better educate their students.

"I was hoping we could get it done before we had to use mobiles," Zieleniewski said.

Four classes at Perry and two at Golfview will have classes in mobile units next year while the district builds more classrooms.