Minooka School District 201 Board discusses temporary plans for crowded schools

The Minooka District 201 board heard more options on how to accommodate the largest enrollment to date at its regular meeting Monday.

The district has attempted two referendums within the past year — both failed.

Board members want a $50 million referendum to build and equip a new school, add site improvements and construct a roadway adjacent to the property located on Seil Road in Shorewood.

The district faced two options after the November loss: Come up with a short-term fix in hopes a referendum would pass in April or have a permanent solution.

No one plan has been set in stone, but Principal Sarah Massey, Assistant Principal Jason Finkelstein and Assistant Principal/Athletic Director Adrianne McKerrow shared their findings Monday.

Massey said during arrival and departure and a few other times during the day, all students have to use the hallways and common spaces at one time, which has proved cumbersome. For the next year, when the enrollment reaches approximately 100 more students than the 992 currently in the building, splitting the grades into academies could prove beneficial.

But with a staggered schedule and varying class lengths, bells would go off every 15 minutes in some parts of the school, so the hallway noise would be constant. Some teachers would work on carts, Massey said, and schedules would have to be monitored to ensure teachers have a relative home base so they are not all over the building. It would also mean instruction would not be bell to bell, as teachers will have to pack up their carts and allow time to move to another open classroom.

Staff increases to accommodate the extra children could include the addition of a dean/athletic director and McKerrow's transition to only assistant principal, three campus monitors and several licensed teachers.

Lunches would begin roughly at 9:30 a.m. and end about 1:15 p.m. Lunch staff will need to work more hours to make up for the long lunch stretch throughout the day.

The band may also be restricted to a more basic form. Nothing has been set, but the district has seen band numbers soar, especially in the fifth grade, which had 200 students this year. Assemblies would have to be split, as the gym could not hold all of the students at one time.

McKerrow said the junior high belongs to two conferences for sports, the Illinois Elementary School Association and Illinois Valley Conference. The complication begins at the IVC conference because, in the by-laws, once a school enrollment exceeds 1,000 students it may be eliminated from the conference.

Concerns were also raised about high try-out numbers resulting in large numbers of talented athletes being cut to fit the small rosters.

Massey said if the referendum passes and a new school were in the works, the conference would wait and Minooka would have two schools in the conference, which would be within the conference rules for enrollment.