St. Charles school board expected to vote Monday on some boundary changes

After months of planning and discussion, St. Charles School District 303 board members are set to vote Monday on new enrollment zones for district middle schools and high schools.

Since last summer, the school board has been approving major changes to the structure of district elementary schools to address overcrowding. Approved changes include repurposing Lincoln Elementary to house staff and transition programming, reopening Fox Ridge as an elementary school, moving early childhood care to the Haines Center, new grade level configurations for Richmond and Davis, and the transfer of the dual-language program to Richmon

Because of the changes, the school board also is working to redraw attendance boundary lines across all schools. For some students and families, this will be the second time they’ve been moved as a result of boundary changes over past six years.

The board was presented with several concepts for each level by demographer RSP & Associates, and reached consensus on moving forward with concepts for middle school and high schools. The high school concept being considered is the only one that would not change the current boundaries.

While the board found consensus for middle school and high school boundaries at a Jan. 16 meeting, the elementary school zones have been discussed at length during each meeting since. Community members have shown up to voice concerns with the proposals.

At the Feb. 5 meeting, after hearing from six community members and more board discussion, board members still did not reach consensus to move an elementary school concept forward. If a consensus is reached for elementary school zones is reached Monday, the board plans to call a special meeting soon after for a possible vote.

Once approved, the new enrollment zones will go into effect in the 2024-25 school year.