Dist. 205 approves boundary changes in small parts of Elmhurst
New school boundaries are coming to small parts of Elmhurst Unit District 205, but the changes, which won't start until 2022, will affect only new homeowners.
The school board this week approved a boundary adjustment aimed at evening class sizes across the district and preparing for all-day kindergarten.
Referencing a "very challenging" process, school board President Kara Caforio thanked the community for its involvement and said she is pleased the end result involves an element of choice and plenty of advance notice.
Superintendent David Moyer said the district now plans to begin communicating about the changes with residents and local real estate agents by the end of the school year.
The changes are designed so that no families currently in the district will need to switch schools.
The new boundaries will affect families who purchase homes on or after June 1, 2022.
There are two affected areas: the current Hawthorne Elementary School attendance area on or past the east side of York Street and on or past the north side of St. Charles Road, and the current Jackson Elementary School attendance area on either side of Harrison Street going north to the south side of Butterfield Road.
Families who already have purchased homes in this area will be able to send their children to Edison Elementary School or their current school.
Families who buy homes currently within the Hawthorne attendance area on the east side of Kenmore Avenue will attend Edison. Families who live between the east side of York Street and the west side of Kenmore Avenue will be able to choose between attending Hawthorne or Edison.
Families who live on either side of Harrison Street going north to the south side of Butterfield Road, where students are now bused to Jackson, will be bused to Edison, which is farther from those homes than either Jackson or Jefferson Elementary School. They will also choose whether to send their children to Bryan Middle School or Sandburg Middle School.
To give a sense of scale, documents on the district's website estimate that if the boundary shift happened now, about 3.6 percent of the student population would be affected.