Dist. 301 not growing fast enough for state grant
It pays to be a fast growing school district.
That is, if you continue to grow fast enough.
The state in December announced it would dole out $7.5 million to 36 districts that saw population growth between 1.5 percent and 7.5 percent in 2008.
For the first time in several years, Central Community Unit District 301 didn't make the cut.
School districts are eligible for the funding if, in the two most recent school years, their enrollment increased by more than 1.5 percent for districts bigger than 10,000 students or more than 7.5 percent or more for districts with an enrollment under 10,000.
District 301, with 3,300 students, falls into the second category.
A healthy housing market helped the district to see about 13 percent enrollment growth in 2005 and 2006.
But growth slowed to 6 percent in 2007, Superintendent Brad Hawk said, then slipped last year to just a 5.5 percent increase. That slowdown eliminates the possibility of a fast-growth grant this year or next year, even if numbers were to suddenly boom.
Since August, Hawk said, District 301 has added only 37 new students.
Those students, he said, "are the ones whose parents can no longer afford to go to private school, or whose families have moved in with their grandparents in the district."
Along with not receiving a fast-growth grant this year, Hawk said his district, like many others, is still waiting on nearly $1 million in promised state aid.
"I don't anticipate adding hardly any staff at all," he said. "As far as adding or enhancing programs, it's not fiscally possible.
"We're not in a cutting mode, but in a hold the line mode. I know that's consistent with our neighbors."
In the Fox Valley, only Carpentersville-based Community Unit District 300 expects to receive a fast-growth grant this year. The 18,500-student district saw enrollment numbers grow by 2 percent, leading to a $720,000 pledge from the state.
Huntley Unit District 158, like District 301, failed to grow fast enough to cash in this year.