Intermediate: Enrollment on the Decline

Feb 2 2008
Enrollment in Dupage County on the Decline

The old saying goes, “When one door closes, another opens.”
But when the doors of a school close, they rarely open again.
Parents, teachers and administrators are concerned about the fate of DuPage County schools due to decreasing enrollment-- a decline that could foreshadow a flat-lining in the state’s school-age population.
For School District 89 in Glen Ellyn, the fate of its schools seems to match the declining pattern of many Dupage school districts.
District 89 is facing several obstacles while planning for the future of its four elementary schools. Jamie Reilly, assistant superintendent for learning, says, “Declining enrollment, unbalanced class sections in the four buildings, growing disparity in operational costs, and challenges to the district budget are the issues we are currently facing, and we are attempting to come to a reasonable solution fairly soon.”
Driving this decline is a generational switch. The affects of the generational wave are being shaped in some ways by the nation’s financial crisis and housing meltdown, the impact of which vary from town to town. For instance, last month South Elementary School in Westmont closed down its doors after 86 years. The district predicts it will save $700,000 annually.
In Glen Ellyn, Briar Glen kindergarten teacher Maureen Konwinski believes the housing meltdown is a big part of the problem. “We are seeing a trend with young couples. With credit harder to secure, young families are opting to stay put or move further west where houses are cheaper, rather than move to larger suburban homes,” she said. “We’re noticing in neighboring areas that have boomed with new subdivisions they are feeling the sting of the slowdown.”
Due to fluctuating class sizes in District 89, an enrollment study group was formed. Made up of five teachers, nine parents, one principal and the assistant superintendent for learning. The committee’s goal was to review current enrollment numbers and recommend to the Board of Education possible solutions to several problems.
Although no action has been taken since the meetings began in September, the board came up with plausible solutions, and one will eventually go into effect, hopefully, by the start of next year.
Parent and board member Adrianna Ollech says, “Our goal was to come up with solutions that balanced class sizes, created minimal disruption and maintained the community in the neighborhoods.”
So far there have been five solutions proposed over the past few weeks. The first three are short-term recommendations that would only help the problem temporarily. One idea is to cap enrollment after reaching the upper limit of the class size ranges and transfer additional students if needed. The second idea is to conduct a census of district residents to project future enrollment more accurately, and finally conduct minimal boundary changes so that students from three neighborhoods in Glen Ellyn would be relocated to the smallest school, Arbor View.
Another recommendation is the idea of paired schools. Briar Glen and Arbor View Elementary Schools would serve as Pre-K-2 Grade Level Centers and Park View and Westfield Elementary Schools would serve as 3-5 Grade Level Centers.
Kindergarten teacher Konwinski thinks this plan would greatly benefit the students. “The great thing about paired schools is that you would be able to have resources common to that specific age level in one building,” Konwinski said. “The younger students would benefit with having specialists focusing just on their needs and the older kids would benefit with the ability to do more cross-curricular activities.” Cross-curricular activities mean students are learning similar material, so the learning process could sometimes be combined. For example, fourth and fifth graders learn similar material in math and science, so different activities can be planned to incorporate both grade levels.
The final recommendation proposed on the enrollment issue is closing down Arbor View, which is the smallest elementary school. This option has sparked many community reactions.
Aimee Boucek, a fifth grade teacher at Briar Glen, is all for closing down Arbor View over the option of pairing schools. “Although I don’t think Arbor View would close because it would be hard to rent the building out with this dwindling economy, this option would make the most sense,” Boucek said. “They have the smallest enrollment out of all the schools and the idea of paired schools would cause a greater outrage with parents. My opinion on the paired schooling is that I feel parents would not be happy if they had kids at three different schools. That would be a parents’ nightmare.”
Under paired schooling, parents potentially could have children at the 3-5 center, the Pre K-2 center, and the preschool.
The impact of declining enrollment can be bleak. Schools are funded, in part, based on how many children they serve. So as enrollment goes down, funding falls. District 89 has decided to introduce a few new program options, so they can prosper during this decline. For example, the district is thinking about opening a new preschool center in one of the elementary schools to increase their yearly income.
Emily Tammaru, principal at Briar Glen, says, “Some of the ideas that arose at the last board meeting were to add additional preschool sections, add a pilot at-risk kindergarten, and possibly to add full-day kindergarten. None of these options are set in stone, but they have been brought to the table.”
Parents in Glen Ellyn have been talking about this issue, and each rumor seems to be spreading like wild fire. The latest rumor claims the district is going bankrupt and all four elementary schools will eventually close down.
Parent Lynn Rumel says, “It’s hard to know what is true or not because I keep hearing something different every day.”
Assistant superintendent Reilly, says, “The recommendations included in the reports are under review, and at this time no action has been taken on any of the recommendations.”
In early May a decision may be made, so preparation for the next school year can begin to transpire. The enrollment committee will meet two more times later this month at the district office, and the meetings will be open to the community so they can voice any concerns.