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Dist. 304 Narrows Boundary Options Students Won't Be Divided By Elementary School

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 August 2005, 21:00 CDT

Presented with the pros and cons of three options, the Geneva school board delved Monday evening into the emotional and controversial issue of how to divide students between the city's two middle schools, ruling out the option having elementary school attendance determine the process.

Two options are left: sending students from the same neighborhood to the same middle school, or randomly dividing students between the two schools.

Board members plan to make a decision on the issue at an Aug. 22 meeting. A resolution is becoming critical, as school staff needs to know enrollment numbers in order to hire teachers for the new middle school, set to open in fall 2006.

Board members also approved Monday without dissent the names "Geneva Middle School North,""Geneva Middle School South," and "Geneva Middle School Campus" as the names of the two schools and the common school property they will share.

The option of elementary schools directly feeding into middle schools was discarded because it would result in the two middle schools having different populations. Some parents had favored the option because it would keep their children with their friends as they went through the often scary process of entering middle school.

While the second option, keeping neighborhoods together into middle school, would address this concern, it might also require re- districting in the future, if neighborhoods grow at different rates.

Many board members, including Mary Stith, Bill Wilson, and Margaret Selakovich, voiced their support for the random plan. They said it would keep the two school populations equal and intermingle elementary school populations and the city's population, creating a spirit of unity and equity.

The random plan would mean that no boundary redistricting would have to take place in the future.

"I don't think it's any secret that we ended up pitting one neighborhood against another" during the recent elementary school boundary decision, said Wilson. Under the random plan, that wouldn't happen, he said.

Shivers questioned whether other board members were having a "knee-jerk" reaction to the troubles surrounding the last boundary decision, motivating them to support the random plan.

Under the random plan, students would be divided into lists of boys and girls, to ensure that each population was equally represented in each school. Students from the same family who are both of middle school age would go to the same school.

Superintendent Michael Jacoby said Monday night that students could be told when they first enroll in the district-as early as kindergarten-which middle school they will be attending.

If the board decides on the random plan, they will have more decisions to make: buses will either have to stop at both schools, at one central location, or at one school, requiring some students to walk 100 yards to their school.

"Obviously, there would be a cry for equity," said Jacoby to laughs. He suggested buses could alternate semesters stopping at each school.

If a central location busing plan is chosen, the current construction project will have to be changed to provide for such a place, said Asst. Superintendent Rebecca Allard.

Jacoby will be discussing middle school issues at his monthly coffee session at 9:30 a.m. this Saturday at the middle school. Anyone can attend.

Source: Daily Herald; Arlington Heights, Ill.

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