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Post by slp on Jul 18, 2009 16:51:44 GMT -6
I recently heard a "rumor" that 4th grade at White Eagle Elementary (of which my son will be a 4th grader) is consolidating from 4 classes down to 3 due to decreased enrollment. This will result in 3 classes with 30 kids in each class.
If this is true I will be livid. Can you pile on more crap?
1st: change location of high school from what was voted on in referendum
2nd: change boundary of my kids high school AND middle school
3rd: my oldest two children will attend WVHS for the 2 years when it is THE most overcrowded and my son must share a locker freshman year.
4th: I will be driving my daughter everyday to middle school as we opted to keep her at Scullen to finish out 8th grade
5th and now: my youngest I fear will be in an overcrowded classroom for his 4th grade year!
I cannot wait to drop off my 2nd installment of property taxes for $7,500. I feel soooo entitled~!
UPDATE:
Good news! Found out that approx. 1 1/2 weeks ago White Eagle added a 4th section of 4th grade! I was told that most of the new families moving into the neighborhood oddly enough had 4th graders. Thank goodness. Each section has only 23 kids; I am pleased as punch.
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Post by asmodeus on Jul 18, 2009 21:08:40 GMT -6
I heard the same thing about the 2nd grade class going from 4 to 3 at WE. We shall see...
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Post by doctorwho on Jul 18, 2009 21:12:44 GMT -6
I heard the same thing about the 2nd grade class going from 4 to 3 at WE. We shall see... oh my - how WILL we fill up 3 high schools in the future in 204 ?? Easy - we will only have 2. |
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Post by doctorwho on Jul 18, 2009 21:27:47 GMT -6
I recently heard a "rumor" that 4th grade at White Eagle Elementary (of which my son will be a 4th grader) is consolidating from 4 classes down to 3 due to decreased enrollment. This will result in 3 classes with 30 kids in each class. If this is true I will be livid. Can you pile on more crap? 1st: change location of high school from what was voted on in referendum 2nd: change boundary of my kids high school AND middle school 3rd: my oldest two children will attend WVHS for the 2 years when it is THE most overcrowded and my son must share a locker freshman year. 4th: I will be driving my daughter everyday to middle school as we opted to keep her at Scullen to finish out 8th grade 5th and now: my youngest I fear will be in an overcrowded classroom for his 4th grade year! I cannot wait to drop off my 2nd installment of property taxes for $7,500. I feel soooo entitled~! This whole unneeded 3rd High school - assinine boundaries - goofy bus routes - no sibling or sports exemptions to moving is the gift that just keeps on giving I am sure you will have a few more gifts in the near future - starting with yet another tax hike from the soon to be announced - larger than expected referendum |
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Post by Arch on Jul 18, 2009 22:15:51 GMT -6
I wonder who gets the paint next time...
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Post by slp on Aug 13, 2009 17:20:12 GMT -6
I recently heard a "rumor" that 4th grade at White Eagle Elementary (of which my son will be a 4th grader) is consolidating from 4 classes down to 3 due to decreased enrollment. This will result in 3 classes with 30 kids in each class. If this is true I will be livid. Can you pile on more crap? 1st: change location of high school from what was voted on in referendum 2nd: change boundary of my kids high school AND middle school 3rd: my oldest two children will attend WVHS for the 2 years when it is THE most overcrowded and my son must share a locker freshman year. 4th: I will be driving my daughter everyday to middle school as we opted to keep her at Scullen to finish out 8th grade 5th and now: my youngest I fear will be in an overcrowded classroom for his 4th grade year! I cannot wait to drop off my 2nd installment of property taxes for $7,500. I feel soooo entitled~! UPDATE: Good news! Found out that approx. 1 1/2 weeks ago White Eagle added a 4th section of 4th grade! I was told that most of the new families moving into the neighborhood oddly enough had 4th graders. Thank goodness. Each section has only 23 kids; I am pleased as punch. |
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Post by southsidesignmaker on Aug 13, 2009 23:32:43 GMT -6
It may be time to take a deep breath and then let it all out. With housing values at these very depressed levels it would seem realistic that school population at the elementary level will fall for the short term.
Realize though that as the baby boomers rapidly age these 4-5 bedroom mega homes will again fill up with young families.
My concern has more to do with the much smaller population of 30-44 age group and the limited earnings this group is presented with. My thoughts are that the 600k to 1 million dollar homes will be a "great value" for a decade to come. Especially when the rapidly graying property owners finally "give up the Ghost".
Add the lower contribution the commercial real estate end will be contributing and we have a recipe for quite a deficit. Kind of like the federal government deficit of late.
I must disagree that the school population is dwindling, rather this population is not being replenished as quickly as once thought.
Nvhs still has over 4400 souls spread over 3 buildings at this time, with Wvhs at large numbers also. The idea of going to only two high schools is just not a reality for a long time to come.
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Post by Arch on Aug 14, 2009 0:56:21 GMT -6
People still need to afford the taxes in those 'great value' homes... and that will keep the people with kids away because I really don't see 'great paying jobs' INCREASING in the area for a long time to come... and more people will move away if they have extra mouths to feed...
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Post by doctorwho on Aug 14, 2009 6:43:11 GMT -6
It may be time to take a deep breath and then let it all out. With housing values at these very depressed levels it would seem realistic that school population at the elementary level will fall for the short term. Realize though that as the baby boomers rapidly age these 4-5 bedroom mega homes will again fill up with young families. My concern has more to do with the much smaller population of 30-44 age group and the limited earnings this group is presented with. My thoughts are that the 600k to 1 million dollar homes will be a "great value" for a decade to come. Especially when the rapidly graying property owners finally "give up the Ghost". Add the lower contribution the commercial real estate end will be contributing and we have a recipe for quite a deficit. Kind of like the federal government deficit of late. I must disagree that the school population is dwindling, rather this population is not being replenished as quickly as once thought. Nvhs still has over 4400 souls spread over 3 buildings at this time, with Wvhs at large numbers also. The idea of going to only two high schools is just not a reality for a long time to come. The 3rd HS was 'justified' based on a count of 10,400 HS students. Long before shovel 1 was put to the ground the SD filed financial documents showing they knew the populaion CAP would be approx 8800. ( Exactly the number btw that some of the same administrators accounted for comfortably with the 2 freshman centers. - knowing that for 10 years after that the population would be falling ). These were the SD's own numbers- not the ramblings of some anti 3rd HS group. The HS number will be under 8000 by 2016-17 based on their own forecasts - and with a slow recovering economy this could happen soponer. Why would be pay to operate 3 high schools in a cash strapped economy when we have already handled far more than that in 2 schools ? Seems like this would be extremely fiscally irrepsonsible behavior. They cannot keep expecting to be building debt as we have already inthis district and 'hide' costs for the 3rd HS forever -- there comes a day to pay the piper. That day is here. I agree with you on the deficits we are generating and comparison to the feds and Springfield -- I like many others are completely done with funding one more darn thing around here with the irresponsibility shown in this last go around. The result will be school closings ( btw - they have always been part of the long range SD plan, some buildings built with that in mind) - and sooner than anyone wants to think. Watts or Owen will have to close. You picture of areas replenishing is a nice story but doesn't always hold true. Watts had 900 students at one time- that same attendance area now has less than 500 as the population ages and cannot afford to move away. It has been on the decline for the last 7-8 years--- Owen never was more than 64% occupied as the school placement made no sense. Taxes will keep people from targeting this area - when people moved here originally - areas further west with better values were not built yet... tack on a few more referendums and no 'deal' on a big house will matter - especially with fewer career opportunities / jobs overall for the generation behind us. There's a reason while the city of CHicago is gaining population again - transportation / smaller homes etc. bottom line is still we built a school we did not need - we knew we didn't need it BEFORE we pushed the button - and the next 20+ years of taxpayers here will pay a stiff price for that. 3 more years and I won't be one of them - I no longer get the value for my taxes. |
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Post by gatordog on Aug 14, 2009 7:33:00 GMT -6
The HS number will be under 8000 by 2016-17 based on their own forecasts - and with a slow recovering economy this could happen soponer. I do not understand the "under 8000" estimate for 2016-17. Look at last years District enrollments. The Class of '17 were 4th graders then. Add up the total 4th-1st graders who will be in HS then: you get HS enrollment of 9004 for 2016-17. |
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Post by doctorwho on Aug 14, 2009 7:59:14 GMT -6
The HS number will be under 8000 by 2016-17 based on their own forecasts - and with a slow recovering economy this could happen soponer. I do not understand the "under 8000" estimate for 2016-17. Look at last years District enrollments. The Class of '17 were 4th graders then. Add up the total 4th-1st graders who will be in HS then: you get HS enrollment of 9004 for 2016-17. typo - s/b 8500 class enrollments are declining each year - attrition - be it due to movement, private schools or whatever. Even the districts own forecasts NEVER equal over 9000 - peakng in 2012 and declining from there on out. So therefore you have to have to use the same run rates as today, for 1st thru 4th to HS - not just move them over - it doesn't work that way. 8500 ( although economy could drive lower) - but there will be less than today - and less than were handled by 2 HS's. The only possible way we could ever keep 3 buildings even close to occupancy is to close the freshman center @ NV - which is also a distinct possiblity. More shifts again, I don't want to be here for those. yes, this is a few years away - but time goes by quickly |
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Post by blankcheck on Aug 15, 2009 6:49:09 GMT -6
I had also heard about declining enrollment at Patterson. I will keep everyone posted. Last yr. their enrollment was 700 students. That is far less from only a few yrs ago when they could not fit
the kindergarten classes and they were bused to Builta.
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