Algonquin school may get 2nd principal

With more than 1,700 students, Westfield Community School is bigger than many area high schools.

Because of that size, and the fact the Algonquin school serves students from kindergarten through eighth grade, Principal Bill Doran says Westfield may be better served with two principals.

"The needs of a kindergartner and first-grade student are vastly different from the needs of seventh- and eighth-grade students," Doran said. "An elementary school should have its own principal."

But Community Unit District 300 Superintendent Ken Arndt says the district, facing $6 million in budget reductions next year, can't afford to hire a second principal, even if Doran promotes an existing administrator.

"The need is definitely there, but we need to put it in a holding pattern," Arndt said. "We just can't do it at this time because of the precarious budget position."

Arndt, who estimates hiring a second principal would cost $26,000, is also recommending the district hold off on hiring an assistant principal at Gilberts Elementary School and a Hampshire High School department head.

Doran currently is Westfield's sole principal, with three assistant principals serving under him.

He proposes adding a second principal to oversee the elementary grades, leaving him to focus on the middle school. Two assistant principals would serve under Doran because the middle school is much larger.

Dave Alessio, chairman of the District 300 school board's Education Committee, says the move would formalize a division already in place.

"It's pretty well divided already," said Alessio, who has two children at Westfield.

Although Arndt's opposition and the budget crunch make it unlikely, the board could still decide to hire a second principal next year.