Mundelein’s Lincoln School to close

The Mundelein Elementary District 75 school board will close Lincoln School for the 2011-12 school year to address declining enrollment and an expected budget deficit, officials said.

The board voted 6-1 Tuesday to close Lincoln as part of a plan that will save the district $582,337 in the first year, or $304,523 over the current spending plan.

The Lincoln closing plan includes the hiring a librarian, social worker and reading specialist so the three remaining district schools will have these full-time personnel. District 75 will also keep its existing administrative office at 470 N. Lake St.

Students in kindergarten through second grade will attend Washington School, and third- through fifth-graders will attend Mechanics Grove. Carl Sandburg Middle School will be home to sixth- through eighth-graders, and the early childhood program.

Board President Wells Frice asked administrators to provide the school board with a transition plan no later than May 16.

“Closing a school is a substantial disruption,” said Frice, who added he struggled with what action to recommend to the board.

His goal was to balance finances with the best possible programs, he said.

“I think the programs and services are weighing heavily in the back of our minds,” board member Tom Klink said. He said he loves the programs at Lincoln, but noted many are offered at Mechanics Grove.

“I understand. I do not want to close Lincoln,” Klink said.

However, doing so gives the district an opportunity to get back to its strategic plan “without having to worry about the constant deficit that we face,” he added.

Mundelein parent Fred Goldman, who has two kids at Lincoln, said it hurt but he came to the conclusion there was no other choice given declining enrollment and the financial situation.

“I think it’s the right decision,” he said. “Even if they stalled it for a year, it would be with less programs, services and people.”

He acknowledged that was not a popular stance among Lincoln parents. Goldman was among about 60 people who attended the Tuesday night meeting.

“From the e-mails that have been flying around, people are emotional and hurt by it,” he said.

Officials considered several options to address declining enrollment and a projected $500,000 deficit by the 2012-13 school year.

They included operating two prekindergarten through fifth grade schools along with Sandburg Middle School, or having separate prekindergarten through first grade, second through fourth grade and fifth through eighth grade schools.

Enrollment in the district’s four schools was 2,247 in the 2000-01 school year, compared to 1,777 this year.

Board member Kevin Holly cast the sole dissenting vote on the plan. He said he is concerned about enrollment at the schools should anything change in coming years.

“That’s my number-one reservation to going ahead and closing,” Holly said.

He said he feels the board is “making this decision for purely financial reasons” without considering the teachers and students, and that May 16 is too soon to put a transition plan in place.

“I just feel like we’re rushing it a bit,” Holly said, and added he’d prefer having a phased-in plan to close Lincoln.

Regarding future uses for Lincoln, Frice said “we’ll have to see what opportunities present themselves.”

When the school was closed in the past, he said, it was used for various activities, with some space being rented to outside groups.

Daily Herald Staff Writer Mick Zawislak contributed to this report.