Dist. 301 hopefuls mostly back grade center plan

Central Unit District 301’s plan to convert its middle schools to grade-level centers sparked heated exchanges among parents, students and administrators at two public forums this month.

But the plan, which would send sixth- and seventh-graders to one school and eighth-graders to another, is much less controversial among the seven candidates seeking a seat on the school board.

Of the seven, only one has come out against the plan, which the board approved March 21. The rest said the idea should be explored and would probably prove less disruptive than the alternative — changing middle school attendance boundaries.

Board President Rose Diaz and board member Gary Weigand are seeking re-election. Five candidates — Rick Pryor, Tim Petsche, Richard Perry, Laura Rabe and David Maraccini — are challenging them. There are four seats available.

Under the district’s plan, students in grades six and seven will attend Prairie Knolls Middle School while eighth-graders will attend Central Middle School. Administrators say if the plan is not implemented, enrollment will fall at Central and rise at Prairie Knolls — threatening the quality of programs and classes at Central.

The two incumbents in the race, Diaz and Weigand, joined the rest of the board in the unanimous March 21 vote approving the grade-level centers. The plan is set to take effect the 2012-13 school year.

“We looked at all different options,” Diaz said after the vote. “This just seemed a good way of keeping friends together ... It would be the least amount of impact on students.”

Weigand said the other option the board considered — middle school boundary changes — was unpopular among parents and unsustainable.

“I believe it’s a longer-term solution,” Weigand said of the grade centers. “It gives access to our newest school (Prairie Knolls) to all of our kids.”

One challenger, though, echoed some parents’ concerns that students will have fewer opportunities at the reconfigured middle schools.

“One of the reasons I came out here was so my children would have opportunities to participate,” said Rick Pryor, a paramedic who lives in Elgin. “You’re talking about (saving) $75,000 ... that’s a drop in the bucket. Find something else to cut.”

But district officials said the change was motivated by programming concerns — not the budget — and other challengers said they understand that rationale.

“I do understand the population disparity across the district,” said Laura Rabe, PTO president at Prairie View Grade School. “Something probably needs to be done to address that population disparity. You can’t offer the same programs that way.”

David Maraccini, a financial planner from Elgin, said the fiscal picture was as important as the educational concerns.

“The school districts around us are laying off teachers or cutting programs,” he said. “If we’re able to cut costs in ways where we don’t have to lay off teachers or cut programs, I’m all for it.”

Under the district’s plan, though, six teachers would lose their jobs as a direct result of the middle school reorganization; it’s not clear whether that would still be the case now that the plan has been pushed back a year (because teachers took a pay freeze).

One candidate, former Howard B. Thomas Grade School Principal Richard Perry, has firsthand experience with grade-level centers. His school was a grade-level center for grades four and five during the second half of the 1990s.

“It made class sizes much more uniform,” Perry said. “All the kids got the same services and opportunities. The kids got to develop relationships that were carried into the middle school.”

Some parents and teachers felt they were left out of the decision to implement grade-level centers. But with the exception of Pryor, the challengers mostly supported the board’s efforts to communicate to the public.

“The school board has been doing a very adequate job of reaching out to the public,” said Tim Petsche, an orthopedic surgeon from Elgin. “It’s the responsibility of a parent ... to be aware that there might be an issue like that that comes up.”