Posted January 11, 2007
At its Jan. 8 meeting, the District 41 Board of Education (BOE) committed to building a new school to solve overcrowding. A referendum is required in order to provide funds to build a new school. The district could put a referendum question on the ballot as soon as the April 17, 2007 election. The next available date it could do so is in March 18, 2008. The BOE directed Superintendent Dr. Ann Riebock to provide a recommendation on which of these two dates to choose, and it plans to act on Dr. Riebock’s recommendation at its Jan. 22 meeting.
The BOE discussed factors to consider in setting the date of the referendum. While a concept plan for building a new fifth-sixth grade intermediate school connected to Hadley Junior High was presented to the public in November of 2005, is there sufficient time to educate the community on the rationale and value of this plan? What resources are needed to develop documents and renderings specific enough so that voters can make an informed decision? Should the BOE authorize expenditures for such planning prior to receiving voter approval? What is the impact of other questions that may appear on the ballot on those dates?
The BOE’s direction to the administration followed its discussion and acceptance of the Boundary Advisory Committee’s report, which recommended no change to current school boundaries and urged the BOE to make a facilities solution to overcrowded schools a top priority. The committee studied enrollment, projected growth, planned housing developments, program needs, facility use, transportation routes, and parent perspectives, and said that boundary adjustments could not make an improvement significant enough to justify disrupting families, especially since the overwhelming theme of community input was that no family wants to change schools. Some committee members felt that matters are so urgent that a boundary adjustment to relieve Abraham Lincoln and Churchill schools should still be pursued. The committee supported administrative actions to manage growth, such as establishing some sort of choice zone or assigning students from new developments to a school other than the one they would normally attend.
Currently, there are 588 students housed in 26 mobile classrooms, and projections show that another 235-362 students may enroll by 2013. Additional students may come from the north end of the district (Churchill and Forest Glen attendance areas), where more than 300 new housing units are either planned or under construction. The Boundary committee noted that there is no unused space at any school and all schools are experiencing infrastructure stress. Abraham Lincoln School has run out of room and kindergartners have begun having Physical Education in the classroom and the Boundary Committee predicted the space crunch will become urgent soon at Churchill. There is no viable land for more mobiles at either school due to floodplain issues.
“A referendum is one of the biggest challenges a community can tackle and requires unity of purpose, stamina, enthusiasm, sound planning, and a commitment to do what’s right for kids,” says Dr. Riebock. “This referendum has grown out of the facilities planning that began in 2003. Since that time, the district has studied numerous options, developed enrollment projections, and involved many staff and community members, who have worked hard to find a solution that meets our needs and would be acceptable to the community at large. The Boundary Advisory Committee’s serious and thorough work has brought increased urgency to this issue, and the BOE is taking the committee’s recommendation to heart.” Dr. Riebock will present the administrative recommendation to the BOE on at the regular meeting of Jan. 22.
