As growth slows, Dist. 301 officials rethinking plans

There now are 3,095 students attending class in Central Unit School District 301, a number that's up only 181 pupils from last year, officials said this week.

Moreover, the two new schools that opened this school year so far are less than 55 percent occupied.

And because the number of new students is much lower than it's been in recent years, district officials are considering whether a 2010 referendum for two more schools is necessary.

"We'll definitely have to play it by ear," Superintendent Brad Hawk said. "I think it'll be a year-to-year proposition."

In 2006, there were 318 new students in the Burlington-based district, for a total of 2,914 pupils, according to enrollment figures.

Country Trails Grade School, built for 650 students, is only 25 percent full with 165 pupils, according to district figures.

But Hawk said that total doesn't include the roughly 90 students enrolled in a pair of special programs at the school.

One is for hearing-impaired students and the other is reserved for pupils new to the English language.

Factoring them into the overall total means 39 percent of the school is at capacity.

"We're putting students in there, there's certainly not that many empty classrooms," Hawk said.

Prairie Knolls Middle School, which can fit 750 students, is just 52 percent full, with 388 children occupying the building, district figures show.

Given the declining housing marking nationwide, Hawk said this year's numbers were no surprise.

The majority of homes that developers are building within the district fall into the vast area west of Randall Road in Elgin.

After five years of robust student growth, that activity is beginning to taper off, Hawk said.