Boundaries change to be phased in for District 89

Incoming preschool and elementary students in Glen Ellyn Elementary District 89 will be assigned to schools differently based on new boundaries the school board approved this week.

But the boundary changes will be phased in, meaning students currently enrolled at one of the district's four elementary schools will finish all remaining grades there before graduating to Glen Crest Middle School, Superintendent Emily K. Tammaru said.

"There are zero students moving in grades kindergarten through fifth. That's the phased-in approach," she said. "Students are staying where they are. New students coming in at kindergarten who live in impacted areas will attend the newly assigned elementary school."

The newly aligned boundaries will help balance populations among the district's schools without as many long bus rides for students, Tammaru said.

This especially will affect Park View Elementary, which has too many students in its attendance area, causing administrators to transfer new enrollees and bus them to other schools on rides that can last as long as 50 minutes each way. This year, 106 students are being moved under a policy the district calls an "administrative transfer."

"This boundary change is allowing us to solve that problem," Tammaru said.

The change also will help the district prepare for a population that's expected to grow during the next five years as young families begin to move into established neighborhoods. Continued growth in students is predicted in a demographic study commissioned last year.

Under the new boundaries, future students from four subdivisions will attend a different school beginning next year. All of them will go to Arbor View Elementary, where Tammaru said space is "a little underutilized." Affected subdivisions include International Village, Canterbury Woods, Arboretum Estates and Glen Park Estates.

District 89 also will move about 90 students in its preschool program from Arbor View to Briar Glen Elementary and move one specialized classroom from Briar Glen to Park View.

The district began reviewing its boundaries in October 2016 after receiving a report from demographer John D. Kasarda, who has conducted several past studies for the district with 98 percent accuracy, Tammaru said. His latest report predicted the district could grow from 2,192 students this year to 2,625 in 2024-25, requiring an increase of 10.4 full-time teaching positions.

Administrators convened a committee of residents, board members and employees who reviewed Kasarda's enrollment projections and considered several boundary change possibilities before deciding the plan approved this week was the best fit.

The changes represent the first new boundaries in the district in 25 years.