District 300 board hears from parents upset over changes to dual language program

Dozens of parents and children packed the Community Unit District 300 school board meeting Tuesday night to weigh in on proposed changes to a dual language program.

A group of parents from Liberty Elementary School in Carpentersville voiced concerns about the program being phased out of that school over the next five years, and asked school board members to reconsider the administration's plan.

"We feel like this is a very major and abrupt change," parent Jenessa Gober said.

District officials say accommodating enrollment growth is the primary reason for the changes.

Liberty parents complained of a lack of communication from district officials and parental involvement in the discussions. The general sentiment was families on the west side of the Fox River were being shortchanged.

"Let's hit pause. Let's rethink this. Let's collaborate with the families going forward," Gober said.

The Algonquin-based district wants to consolidate the program from five elementary schools to four starting next fall. Students attending those classes at Parkview Elementary in Carpentersville will be relocated entirely next school year. The kindergarten dual language class at Liberty will be moved next year with the district phasing out one grade level in each of the following four years, per the proposal.

Ultimately, students will be consolidated at Golfview, Lakewood and Meadowdale ­elementary schools, all in Carpentersville, where there is enough room for the dual language program's growth.

For many parents, a longer commute - more than 30 minutes each way on the bus - is troublesome.

The district is offering to bus dual language students from various hubs.

However, earlier pickups and later drop-offs could interfere with student participation in after-school programs, sports, extracurricular activities and encroach on quality family time, Gober said.

Other concerns include low academic scores, safety, social-emotional welfare and program location.

Among the solutions suggested by parents is keeping existing dual language sections of kindergarten through fifth grade at Liberty and moving preschool out of the building to possibly add more sections.

Parents suggested creating a dual language program at Sleepy Hollow or Gilberts elementary schools because they have space to accommodate more students. They also suggested possibly splitting the grades between west side schools with kindergarten through second grade housed at one site and third through fifth grades housed at another.

Gober recommended forming a dual language parent advisory board that could work with district administrators to come up with different solutions.

A main concern of parents is keeping siblings together so their children won't have to go to different schools and postponing the program's migration to allow the youngest siblings to enroll.

Parents also are concerned about sending Liberty's dual language fifth-grade students to Carpentersville Middle School while their peers not enrolled in the program will be attending Dundee Middle School.

"Our kids have been part of the (Dundee Middle School) community for the last six years ... they can't wait to get there," said parent David Rodriguez, of Algonquin, who has a fifth-grader and second-grader in Liberty's dual language program.

The dual language program launched 11 years ago at Liberty with about 25 students in one classroom. Today, it is offered at five schools and taught in 68 classrooms with 1,446 students, officials said.

Many schools, including Liberty, are at capacity. Yet, demand for the program is increasing districtwide.

"We are running out of space," Superintendent Fred Heid said. "Difficult decisions have to be made. When we look at capacity issues across our district, growing the program at Liberty is not an option."

Gilberts also does not have enough room, said Heid adding, consolidating the program is the only option.

It will help the district increase enrollment to 1,730 students next year and add 690 students in subsequent years for a total of 2,420 students, officials said.

"I will do everything in my capacity to look for options that will buy you time, buy us time," Heid said. "As we look to our future, one of the only options we have left is a new school building (on the district's west side)."