Schaumburg District 54 prepares for boundaries change

Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 is readying students, parents and staff for the district's first significant school boundaries change in 17 years.

District spokeswoman Terri McHugh said officials already have been working hard over the past few weeks to insure the August transition is handled as sensitively as possible.

The change became necessary, she said, because the district's overall student population has gradually risen, resulting in overcrowding at specific schools, especially Armstrong, Muir and Lakeview in Hoffman Estates.

The boundary changes will affect 14 of the district's elementary schools, though only six buildings will be receiving students from new areas. None of the district's junior highs will be impacted.

In an effort to make the transition as painless as possible, current students will have the option to remain at their present schools until they move on to junior high or move to the new school. However, younger siblings of current students must attend the school designated by new boundary divisions when they enroll in kindergarten.

Affected parents were informed by mail in December, when district administrators also attended the monthly PTA council meeting to make the formal announcement.

The news does not appear to have made many waves, at least so far, McHugh said. The district has scheduled meetings at all six schools receiving new students — the first two of which have already occurred.

The single largest area of the district changing attendance boundaries is an area where 126 current students live. The boundary change will shift students in that neighborhood from Armstrong School in Hoffman Estates to Blackwell School in Schaumburg.

Melanie Tomaso, PTA president of one of the affected schools — Enders-Salk in Schaumburg — said she has not heard much buzz about the issue, though her own PTA's first meeting since the announcement isn't until next week.

It's been long discussed in the Enders-Salk community that some areas within its existing boundary don't make much sense as students seem to be traveling an extraordinary distance to get to the school, Tomaso said.

“I assume they're making these changes for the better,” she said.

Though this will be the biggest boundary change since 1994, there have been a some smaller adjustments made in the past few years, all governed by the same procedure, McHugh said.

District 54 has a total of 27 elementary and junior high schools scattered throughout Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Elk Grove Village, Hanover Park and Roselle.