Learn about District 300's east side plans

By the time you read this, Community Unit District 300 may have already made a decision on how to fix crowded east-side schools.

The District 300 school board was set to meet Thursday night at a work session to discuss three proposals for the east side.

The board's decision won't be final until it votes on the proposals at 7:30 p.m. on Monday at the administration building, 300 Cleveland Ave., Carpentersville.

The plans would add at least 12 classrooms to east-side schools, shift hundreds of students to less-crowded schools and cost from $5.3 million to $16.8 million.

The district held three public hearings in the past week at which residents could offer their feedback on the three plans.

District 300 had similarly hosted three hearings to solicit feedback when it changed middle and high school attendance boundaries earlier this year.

The number of comments the school board received about boundary changes was not overwhelming, given the size of the district, but the number the board got about the east-side plans pales in comparison.

While several dozen parents made a comment to the board earlier this year about boundary changes, only about six commented on the east-side plans, district officials said.

One reason for the dearth of feedback is the scope of the plans. While the boundary changes affected the entire district, the east-side plans only affect one part of the district -- and mostly students in elementary school.

Here's another: It's probably true that people speak out more when they don't like something. Parents generally see boundary changes as disruptive to their lives and their kids' lives.

The east-side proposals, on the other hand, balance some boundary changes with classroom additions, more programming and reduced enrollment at some crowded schools - all welcome changes for parents.

But the plans are not identical, and it would behoove parents to know how each would affect their child.

Let's start with what all the plans have in common. Each would do the following:

• Reduce Perry Elementary School's enrollment to 688 by shifting 120 students to Parkview Elementary School, and 110 to Meadowdale Elementary School.

• Move 48 kids from Meadowdale to Algonquin Lakes Elementary School.

• Expand full-day kindergarten and preschool on the east side.

Here's how the proposals are different:

• Meadowdale would become a K-5 school in scenarios 2 and 3 but would stay a K-4 building in scenario 1.

• Golfview Elementary School would get six new classrooms in scenarios 1 and 2 and four in scenario 3.

• Scenario 1 would cost $5.3 million; adding at least six classrooms to Algonquin Middle School would push the cost of scenarios 2 and 3 to $16.8 million and $16.1 million, respectively.

You can find more information on the plans at www.d300.org/web/attendanceboundarycommittee/eastsidestudycommittee.html.