Dist. 220 school maps still in flux

Armed with new enrollment data, the Barrington Area Unit District 220 committee charged with drawing new attendance boundaries is back at work trying to find the best way to divide up the more than 2,700 elementary school students.

Joe Ruffolo, co-chairman of the community-based enrollment monitoring panel, stresses that the maps presented to the community this month remain preliminary and more than likely will change based on the new enrollment numbers.

The new numbers, he said, include actual enrollment data from the current school year. Previous numbers included only projections for this year.

The committee had been trying to distribute students so that on average there were 22.7 in each class throughout the district.

Over the next two weeks, Ruffolo said the committee, formed earlier this year to monitor attendance fluctuations and suggest possible boundary changes, plans to review the enrollment numbers and see if a change in the average class size is needed.

If so, he said that will most likely alter the three preliminary maps. Each of them shows some neighborhoods being reassigned to different elementary buildings, though any of those maps could be scrapped and redrawn based on the newest enrollment data.

The goal is for the committee to present its final recommendations in January to the school board. It has the final say over any boundary changes.

While some people have been upset by the possible changes, school board President Brian Battle said it is important to remind everyone that work is still going on.

"I would encourage people not to jump to conclusions that there are any favorite maps or biases," Battle said. "The process is still very much in the middle."

Once a recommendation is given from the panel, Battle said the school board will spend time deliberating before making a final decision.

He said their intentions are to have a decision made before the end of the current school year.

The committee has scheduled meetings for Nov. 27, Dec. 11 and Jan. 8.

For more information on the committee's work, visit cusd220.lake.k12.il.us/.