New bus routes, programs, additions at Burlington area schools
New bus routes, programs and future additions are among the highlights at Burlington area schools this year.
Nearly 4,000 students and roughly 300 teachers welcomed the school year Wednesday.
"They were very excited to be back," said Todd Stirn, superintendent of Burlington Central Unit District 301. "We're up 200 students from this point a year ago across the grades."
New this year are two classes at Burlington Central High School which will offer blended learning - a combination of on-site and remote learning - in chemistry and American government.
Burlington Central also got its full-time school resource officer back. Kane County Sheriff's Deputy Matt Humm has been assigned the beat after a month of uncertainty over whether the post will be filled due to staffing shortfalls at the sheriff's office.
Also debuting is a tuition-based Early Childhood Blended Program at Howard B. Thomas Grade School, open to children turning 3 or 4 on or before Sept. 1. The daily program ends in May and allows for up to 80 students. Families must provide their own transportation.
The district's fleet of 72 buses and 59 drivers transport roughly 4,000 students daily, running 136 routes across roughly 87 square miles.
"We used to bus everyone," said Stirn, adding changes to bus routes and infrastructure improvements mean a greater percentage of students are walking to school districtwide.
By state law, students have a right to free transportation to and from school only if they live farther than 1.5 miles from their neighborhood school.
Officials eliminated busing to some neighborhoods that fall within 1.5 miles from their respective school. Residents of the Meadows Edge and Graystone neighborhoods within the Highland Woods subdivision off Route 20 in Elgin primarily were affected.
"Originally 110 students were eligible to be walkers. (Fewer) than 50 students are walkers now" from that subdivision, Stirn said.
Unhappy with that decision, parents protested the busing changes at a recent school board meeting.
"I'm sure the parents are seeking full busing to be reinstated for everyone, but we are going to follow the state statute," Stirn said.
Officials also are gearing up to begin phase one of an expansion project at Burlington Central this fall.
The addition will include eight classrooms, a fitness room, and a new weight room - a roughly $6.5 million cost funded through debt certificates to be repaid with impact fees from new construction in the Elgin area over a 15-year period. It will be completed for the start of school next fall, Stirn said.
The addition will connect to a future 12-classroom addition, including a field house with a 200-meter track and four practice athletic courts - a roughly $22 million cost for which the district would need to seek voter approval.