District 220 to decide on Chinese grant

While the Barrington Unit District 220 board largely agrees that a $1.5 million grant to introduce Mandarin Chinese to elementary students would be an educational boon, that doesn't make the imminent decision of whether to accept it any easier.

Board members have wrestled with the dilemma since the district learned it won the federal grant during the summer. They finally plan to vote on it Tuesday, Dec. 7.

“Where I think most of the concern has been is in how to manage the configuration of the growth of the program,” board President Brian Battle said.

Among the big decisions that need to be made are how many of the district's eight elementary schools will house the program, how future attendance growth might affect it and how they will pay for it when the grant expires in five years.

The grant's ultimate aim is to provide a four-year program at the University of Illinois for graduates of a K-12 curriculum in District 220.

The five-year period covered by the grant would make the program cost-neutral for the district, except for the possibility of some additional transportation costs, Battle said. The district likely would incur additional expenses later as the program connects up with the existing Mandarin curriculum at its middle schools and high school, he added.

While the district knows it will have adequate program space for the 2011-2012 school year, enrollment growth in later years could change that.

Officials have heard from parents supportive of the educational benefits of the program and others concerned by its potential financial impacts, Battle said.