St. Charles school district still mulling elementary enrollment zone changes
St. Charles School District 303 community members have made their voices heard during recent school board meetings, filling well over two hours of the last two meetings with public comments regarding proposed elementary school enrollment zone changes.
With major changes to the structure of district elementary schools coming this fall due to overcrowding, the school board is working to redraw the boundary lines of enrollment zones across all schools.
The board moved forward with plans for high school and middle school boundaries at its Jan. 16 Learning and Teaching Committee meeting, where board members heard from more than 20 residents and decided to continue discussing elementary school zones at a later meeting.
This week, board members continued discussions over elementary school enrollment zones during their Business Services Committee meeting but are still not ready to commit to a concept.
A board vote on the middle and high school boundaries will happen on Feb. 12. Meanwhile, additional discussion about the elementary school boundaries will occur during a committee meeting next week.
In July, the district hired demographer RSP and Associates to conduct a boundary analysis and develop a plan to address overcrowding. Since then, RSP has conducted analyses, held public presentations, collected community feedback and presented the district with several options for each level of education.
This week, RSP and Associates CEO Robert Schwarz gave another presentation on the boundary process and introduced a new option for elementary school enrollment zones. The school board now has four different elementary school zone concepts.
Under each scenario, the district’s dual language program will be moved entirely to Richmond Intermediate School, and all dual language students will be removed from their schools and relocated to Richmond.
More than 30 people, mostly parents of elementary students, spoke for nearly an hour and a half of public comment during the meeting this week.
Some residents favored Concept 2, others favored Concept 3, and some urged the board not to pick any of the proposed concepts and explore more alternatives and options.
Sticking points for residents included walkability and safety, continuity in education for students and equitable opportunities for students across all elementary schools.
Many concerns from the public involve Richmond Intermediate School, including the relocation of the dual language program, the possible use of mobile classrooms and the current poor academic performance and reading levels.
Under each concept, Richmond would see the highest concentration of free-and-reduced-lunch students of all district elementary schools by far, which some alleged will only worsen the academic performance issue and necessitate additional costs to support its students.
Board members discussed elementary school enrollment zone boundaries for more than two hours.
They seem to be nearing consensus for Concept 2, which multiple board members said they would support on the condition that some modifications and exceptions be made based on their discussion and community feedback.
The discussion will continue during a Business Services Committee meeting on Monday, Feb. 5. The board expects RSP to bring back a revised version of Concept 2 with considerations for walkability and other anomalies pointed out by residents.
If board members reach a consensus, the concept would go to the Feb. 12 meeting for possible final approval. If the changes are approved, they will take effect in the 2024-25 school year.