NORMAL -- Calling the Unit 5 redistricting committee's recommendation the best option for all students in the district, the board unanimously passed the plan Wednesday.
It dictates where students will attend school starting in 2010, the year three new schools will open and another's renovation will double its size.
"I believe this is the best recommendation we have been able to put together to serve all 13,000 students in Unit 5," said board member John Puzauskas, who was among the 25 on the redistricting committee.
"It was a tough, tough job that started in March of this year," he said.
Speakers said there were some misconceptions about their concerns and they didn't believe they were duly considered. "I can guarantee you that this committee took every single concern into consideration," said Superintendent Gary Niehaus.
The parents showed disappointment, but there were no outbursts.
Four of the five parents who spoke Wednesday night asked the board not to split a small number of students off to a different high school. It wasn't that they didn't want to be Normal West Wild Cats, but that they didn't want a small group isolated from their longtime friends, the parents said.
"Consider how you would feel if nine of 10 of your closest friends were no longer part of your daily life. That's what would happen to these children," said Peter Halter, a Colene Hoose Elementary School parent.
Sheryl Soukup of the Maplewood subdivision asked that children in her neighborhood stay with Colene Hoose instead of having them attend Glenn Elementary School. Her reasons included safety and busing. Niehaus said her concerns were considered, but the population at Glenn school would be too small without students from her neighborhood.
The plan did not include the attendance exceptions to allow all sophomore, junior and senior students in 2010 to continue at the school they are attending. Niehaus said he recommends this, and it will be addressed at the next school board meeting.
The board did approve an elementary and junior high school switch recommended by consultant Matt Cropper of Ohio-based Cropper GIS and the committee. About 34 Oakdale Elementary School students will remain at that school instead of moving to Parkside Elementary School. This allows the special education classrooms to remain at Parkside schools and avoids overcrowding there.
At the same meeting, the board heard that Brigham Elementary School could be adapted to be used as a temporary site for sixth- and seventh-graders who would finish their 2010-11 school year at George L. Evans Elementary School. There are some challenges including lack of lockers, kitchen storage, teacher work space, a nursing office, and a lack of sports fields on site.
John Pye, assistant superintendent of human resources, said it is possible and feasible to use the school. However, whether it is the best option depends on how construction progresses at Evans Junior High School. That will be better known about Dec. 1, Niehaus said.
Posted in Local, Education on Wednesday, August 26, 2009 11:40 pm Updated: 7:09 am.
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