Dist. 95 school border proposal gets OK

Lake Zurich Unit District 95 school board unanimously approved new school boundaries Thursday night. The new boundaries will take effect next school year.

The boundary changes were necessitated by the closing of Quentin Elementary School at the end of this school year.

The redistricting consolidates six elementary schools into five, bringing the enrollment at Loomis Elementary School up to about 520 students and keeping enrollment at all schools under 600.

Board member Mike Finn acknowledged that some areas, such as the Bishop's Ridge and Wicklow neighborhoods, are being divided with the approval of option 13. However, the consensus among the board was that it would be impossible to please everyone and the new boundaries are the best that could be accomplished.

"This is not fun for anybody," board member Doug Goldberg said. "This is the second time my kids have been moved."

The district changed the boundaries six years ago when Loomis opened.

Falling enrollment, maintenance costs and a budget shortfall affecting the whole district necessitated closing Quentin.

Officials have said the district will save $250,000 in staffing costs and $120,000 in operations costs annually by closing the school. However, not all the savings will be seen immediately because of the costs of moving out of Quentin.

The boundary committee, comprised of 20 members representing areas across the district, developed 25 options for new boundaries based on meeting goals given to them by the board. Improving socio-economic balance, displacing as few students as possible, maintaining class-size targets, keeping neighborhoods intact and maximizing transportation efficiency were among the top priorities.

"I saw this group ... come together and develop a level of expertise and really come together and work as a unit to (get the best result for the entire community)" said board member John Kropf.

The options were trimmed to eight late last year and only options 13 and 22 were recommended to the board on Jan. 15.

Option 13 offers the best improvement in socio-economic balance and displaces the fewest percentage of students of the final options. Class-size targets are maintained and no schools hit 600 students, avoiding any "mega" schools. The option also maintains 66 more than walkers than option 22 would have.

However, some students will not be attending their closest school, creating a leap frog effect for more than 200 students.

Superintendent Brian Knutson said the administration should be able to start the process of reassigning staff from Quentin a week ahead of schedule.