Post by southsidesignmaker on Dec 6, 2011 10:32:23 GMT -6
triblocal.com/naperville/2011/12/06/dist-203-officials-apologize-as-parents-protest-over-boundaries/
Naperville Unit District 203 officials apologized to the community Monday night for the way they have communicated hypothetical boundary changes as angry parents packed their board room with concerns.
“We want to address this issue with thought and sensitivity but obviously we have made a major misstep in the message and the timing of what we have done,” Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said at the start of the meeting. “For that I take full responsibility and I apologize for the anxiety this has created for many people in this community.”
The district has received a firestorm of criticism from parents after releasing maps online that show boundary changes being reviewed by a committee studying enrollment and capacity issues. The maps were posted in lieu of opening the committee meetings to the public, but they were accompanied by little context or explanation.
In the latest draft that district officials are calling a “supposal,” not only would boundaries change, but Ellsworth Elementary and Washington Junior High would close. Mitrovich has stressed the maps were merely an exercise and not likely to come to fruition, but parents crammed into the board meeting room Monday night in protest nonetheless.
“This first supposal appears to be all about numbers and we are not just numbers we are a community,” said Jennifer Kennedy, one of 18 people who spoke during the hour and a half discussion.
Chris Hall, parent of Ellsworth and Washington students, talked about the importance of neighborhood schools in providing quality education.
“Ellsworth and Washington are the very embodiment of this sentiment,” he said. “Splitting up neighborhoods and busing children half way across town is not.”
Board President Mike Jaensch said the district was trying to be transparent when releasing the supposals online.
“What you’re seeing is unfortunately the sausage being made,” he said. “There’s stuff in there that is not good and as Dr. Mitrovich said you have to look at all options. That’s called due diligence.”
Naperville Unit District 203 Superintendent Mark Mitrovich, left, and board President Mike Jaensch listen as parents expres their concerns over boundary changes being reviewed by an enrollment committee. (Melissa Jenco/Tribune)
But Scott and Madison parent Linda Hansen later shot back that the maps released do not accomplish objectives like balancing demographics, maintaining fiscal responsibility, keeping neighborhoods intact and eliminating overcrowding.
“I want to state that if we’re going to take a peek at you making the sausage that you’re using real meat,” she said.
Parent Nina Tamburo said the supposal would mean students who currently walk to Naper Elementary and Washington Junior High would instead spend up to an hour on the bus each day. Numerous parents also spoke out about the supposal dividing their neighborhoods including Barb Vetter in the Meadow Glens area.
“In a neighborhood with homes within three-quarters of a mile of each other full of families that have been attending the same elementary school and the same middle school, playing sports together, attending scouts programs, playing after school on the playground, celebrating birthdays and holidays together this supposal splits our neighborhood into three elementary schools, which then leads us to split into two different middle schools and high schools,” she said.
The board also heard from Washington Junior High eighth-grader Judy Pendergast who made a plea on behalf of students. Under the latest maps, she would attend Naperville Central High School next year while best friend Emma Carmody would go to North.
“I met my best friend in fourth grade and we’ve been really good friends and I just ask you to look back when you had a best friend and how you wouldn’t want to go to a different school than them. … I just ask that you think about the students when you’re making a decision,” she said.
Pendergast and Carmody recently formed a Facebook page and online petition protesting the boundary changes.
Jaensch apologized for the anxiety the district created and said he too is frustrated.
“All I would ask you is going forward relax, take a deep breath and … trust us to do the right thing,” he said.
The district plans to release a new set of supposals by Friday. The enrollment committee then will present its findings to the board at 7 p.m. Dec. 19. The district has moved the meeting to Naperville Central High School, 440 W. Aurora Ave. No final action is expected at that time.
