Parents, Students Criticize Boundary Changes

Parents and students said Monday that changing school boundaries in would adversely affect student friendships and sever the connections they have with their current schools.

Some parents told the school board that the proposed changes would create longer travelling times to and from school, which could impact whether or not their students are able to participate in after-school activities.

Other parents told the board that if some neighborhoods change schools, the district’s “house” system, in which elementary and middle schools feed into the same high school, would be disrupted.

In November, the District 202 school board instructed administrators to come up with an attendance zoning plan to relieve middle school overcrowding. Because the boundaries are mapped out by subdivision, some students will attend new elementary and high schools as well.

About 400 students are affected by the plan created by the administration.

The board did not vote on new attendance zone boundaries at its meeting Monday, but listened as Supt. John Harper presented his recommendations and residents voiced their concerns. The board is expected to vote on April 11.

Harper said one of the main reasons to reassign Lakewood Falls Phase 7 from Indian Trail Middle School to Heritage Grove Middle School is to accommodate an expected influx of special education students at Indian Trail, which has a lower student capacity than the district’s newer middle schools.

Without moving about 111 Lakewood Falls Phase 7 students into Heritage Grove, the Indian Trail media center would have to close to create makeshift classroom space, Harper said.

Also, the band and choir would have to share the stage for classes; health would be taught in the gym rather than in a classroom; the gym would be used for lunchroom overflow, and each encore class, such as art and music, would have more than 30 students per class, he said.

If students from Lakewood Falls Phase 7 are transferred, there would be an adequate number of rooms, encore classes would have 27 to 28 students per class, and students from that neighborhood would still attend Plainfield East High School with the students with whom they attended elementary school.

Indian Trail is the only school that splits graduates between Plainfield Central and Plainfield East high schools.

In a second plan that the administration is recommending to the school board, Lakewood on Caton, McKenna Woods, Fon-du-lac, Brookside and Caton Farm Elevator would switch from the overcrowded Aux Sable Middle School to the lower enrolled Drauden Point Middle School.

The move reduces enrollment at Aux Sable from 1,217 to 1,100 students while increasing Drauden Point enrollment from 862 to 979 students.

The optimal capacity for the newer middle schools – in which each room is used for its intended purpose – is about 950 students.

The plan, known as Tier II, still maintains the house system since both Aux Sable and Drauden Point feed into Plainfield South High School.

The district administration has created a third option that reduces the number of students at John F. Kennedy Middle School; however, it is not recommending it because it alters enrollment unnecessarily and significantly impacts elementary schools in order to preserve the house concept, Harper said.

Parent Brian Evans said he believes the board needs a better long-term plan than the one currently proposed. He said he was upset by the attendance zoning changes because he decided not to uproot his children once they started school so they could stay in the same school with their same friends.

“You are taking that power away,” he told the board.

Parent Judy Followell, who spoke for residents in the Lakewood Falls Phase 7, said the after-school activities her children participate in may be limited since it’s an extra eight miles to go to middle school. Her subdivision has been rezoned before without complaints, she said, but she is hoping for stability.

“It’s a huge huge ordeal,” she said.

Indian Trails seventh-grader Megan Fries, 12, said the attendance zone changes would split up her friends, who were looking forward to graduation together.

Parent Kathy Vescovi asked the board if any provisions are going to be made for children who are placed in a new school without their core group of friends.

“It is detrimental,” said Vescovi, adding her daughter changed school four times before graduating Plainfield South High School.

Several board members said their children have also changed schools because of attendance boundaries, trying to reassure parents that they both understand their concerns and do not enjoy making such changes.

“We know the pain and angst the kids feel because our kids felt it,” board member Rod Westfall said.

The district has received nearly 400 e-mails about the attendance zones through its Web site, www.psd202.org, and will continue to take e-mails from interested residents.

To review the administration's proposed boundary change plan, go to http://www.psd202.org/Distnews/1011/attenancezonesrec032111.pdf.