St. Charles School District still mulling elementary enrollment zone changes

St. Charles School District 303 community members have made their voices heard during recent school board meetings, filling well over two hours of the past two meetings with public comments regarding proposed elementary school enrollment zone changes.

With major changes to the structure of district elementary schools coming in the fall because of overcrowding, the board is working to redraw the boundary lines of enrollment zones across all schools. For some students and families, this will be the second time they are displaced by an enrollment zone change in the past six years.

The board moved forward with plans for high school and middle school boundaries at its Learning and Teaching Committee meeting Jan. 16, when it heard from more than 20 community members and decided to continue discussing elementary school zones at a later meeting.

Board members continued discussions over elementary school enrollment zones at length during the Business Services Committee meeting Monday Jan. 29, but still are not ready to commit to a concept.

While middle and high school boundaries are set to be voted on at the Feb. 12 board meeting, elementary school boundaries returned to the Business Services Committee meeting Feb. 5 for further discussion, with the goal of reaching consensus to move one concept forward for possible vote Feb. 12.

In July 2023, the district hired demographer RSP and Associates to conduct a boundary analysis and develop a plan to address overcrowding. RSP has conducted analyses, held public presentations, collected community feedback and presented the district with several options for each level of education.

At the Jan. 29 meeting, RSP and Associates CEO Robert Schwarz gave another presentation of the boundary process and introduced a new option for elementary school enrollment zones.

The board now has four elementary school zone concepts to choose from: 1, 2, 2A and 3.

Under each scenario, the district’s Dual Language Program will be moved to Richmond Intermediate School and all dual language students will be removed from their schools and relocated to Richmond.

More than 30 people, mostly parents of elementary school students, spoke for almost an hour and a half during public comment at the Jan. 29 meeting. Some were in favor of concept 2, some favored concept 3 and some urged the board not to choose any of the concepts proposed and explore more alternatives and options.

Sticking points for residents included walkability and safety, continuity in education for students and equitable opportunities for students across all elementary schools.

Many concerns from the public surrounded Richmond Intermediate School, including the relocation of the dual language program, the possible use of mobile classrooms and the current poor academic performance and reading levels. Under each concept, Richmond would see the highest concentration of free and reduced lunch students of all district elementary schools by far, which some alleged will only worsen the academic performance issue and necessitate additional costs to support its students.

Board members discussed elementary school enrollment zone boundaries for more than two hours during the meeting, not including public comment or the presentation from RSP, which were more than two hours combined as well.

Board members seemed to be nearing consensus for Concept 2, which multiple board members said they would support on the condition that some modifications and exceptions be made based on their discussion and community feedback.

At the Feb. 5 meeting the board expected RSP to bring back a revised version of concept 2 with considerations for walkability and other anomalies pointed out by residents.

If a consensus is reached, the concept would go to the Feb. 12 meeting for possible final approval.

Upon board approval, the changes would take effect in the 2024-25 school year.