Dist. 214 rejects boundary change request

Northwest Suburban High School District 214 has rejected a requested boundary change for two Prospect Heights neighborhoods, and those students will continue to attend Wheeling High School, District 214 said Friday.

The neighborhoods, Lake Claire Estates and The Shires, asked their children be shifted to John Hersey High School. Residents presented a petition to District 214, saying Hersey is thought to be a better school with higher test scores, that Hersey is closer to their homes and that to get to Wheeling High School their children have to cross Palatine Road.

"After reviewing the information presented by the representatives, there was not a compelling enough argument to change the protocols," Superintendent David R. Schuler said Friday in a news release.

"Nor did enrollment projections for the next nine years project any significant disparities in enrollment between the various high schools."

The district said the representatives of the two subdivisions were notified Thursday of the decision.

However, Ihab Riad, one of the organizers of the petition drive, was surprised at Friday's announcement, saying he personally had not heard the request was rejected.

As far as he knew, he said, district representatives toured the area on Wednesday, and told him that they would finish work on enrollment projection models this week.

School Board President William Dussling, Vice President James Perkins and Superintendent David R. Schuler met with the representatives a week ago and had planned to meet again in two weeks, after the administration researched how redrawing boundaries would affect the district.

According to the news release, the decision was rendered sooner due to the number of e-mails and phone calls received from District 214 residents after an article appeared in a newspaper last week.

District 214 traditionally redistricts only when a comprehensive high school has opened or closed or when there is a significant disparity in enrollment at the respective high schools, officials said.

Dussling said he received numerous e-mails on the matter, and after the projections were in, the decision was fairly obvious.

"It doesn't make that much sense to continue discussing at this point. There just wasn't a convincing enough argument," said Dussling.

Janet Jordan, a Lake Claire Estates resident who did not sign the petition, was happy to hear the news. Her daughter, Kayla, 16, is a junior at Wheeling High School, and loves the school, her mother said.

"I'm pleased things aren't changing. I feel like there is an experience at Wheeling you can't learn in a textbook," Janet Jordan said.

"You can't quantify a culturally rich environment," she added.