12-11-2008, 07:50 AM
This might answer some of our questions.
Waukegan adopts neighborhood schools
Boundary maps redrawn, Whittier becomes K-5 school
December 11, 2008
By RYAN PAGELOW <!-- e --><a href="mailto:rpagelow@scn1.com">rpagelow@scn1.com</a><!-- e -->
Nearly one in three Waukegan students will attend a different elementary or middle school next fall under new attendance boundary maps, approved by the Waukegan Public Schools Board of Education on Tuesday night.
The Whittier Kindergarten Center will also be converted into Whittier Elementary for K-5 students, based on recommendations from a Neighborhood Schools Committee which has been meeting since November 2007.
Reassigning students to their nearest school is an effort to limit cross-town busing, saving the district up to 20 to 30 percent in transportation costs, and to build more of a sense of community around the neighborhood school, said Deputy Superintendent Jules Gaudin.
Some of the savings in transportation costs, mostly paid by the state, will likely be used to change the start times of the schools, giving the later start time to older kids at the middle schools and high school, Gaudin said. Currently the district has three different start times, which has the high school and some middle schools starting at 7:20 a.m., while some elementary schools start at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. The district is considering having two different start times instead of three, Gaudin said.
Under the new neighborhood schools plan, parents of current fourth and seventh grade students will be given an option to move to the neighborhood school or remain in their present school. Parents will be notified by mail in February of any new school assignment for August 2009 ,and they'll receive instructions for "mail-in" registration and "parent voluntary transfer" procedures. Those students who stay in the present school will not be afforded school transportation.
The district will continue to provide free transportation to kindergartners and students whose residences are outside the 1.5 mile radius of the school, or whose addresses include crossing a hazardous route, as determined by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The district has yet to determine the fee, if any, for transporting a student to or from an address that is not his or her residence, such as a day-care provider.
Anita Hanna was the only school board member to express concern about the neighborhood schools plan, though she voted to support it.
"I just can't understand the concept of removing a Kindergarten Center and we're going to have to expend dollars to renovate the Whittier building," she said.
Gaudin said the modifications to the Whittier building would be "very minor."
Whittier School will minimally need cafeteria equipment such as coolers, freezers and ovens. The smaller furniture, library books and classroom supplies already in place at the building will need to be traded out with the other elementary schools for supplies for older students.
Board President June Maguire suggested that the parent-teacher organizations at the schools have some kind of welcoming event for the students before the school year starts.
"So students are comfortable attending the new schools," she said.
Waukegan started to move away from neighborhood schools in the 1970s by busing students to other schools to improve integration and to reduce overcrowding. It has created a situation where some students, who can walk to a nearby school, are required to take a bus to a school further away.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1325451,5_1_WA11_WAUKSKOOL_S1.article">http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article</a><!-- m -->
Waukegan adopts neighborhood schools
Boundary maps redrawn, Whittier becomes K-5 school
December 11, 2008
By RYAN PAGELOW <!-- e --><a href="mailto:rpagelow@scn1.com">rpagelow@scn1.com</a><!-- e -->
Nearly one in three Waukegan students will attend a different elementary or middle school next fall under new attendance boundary maps, approved by the Waukegan Public Schools Board of Education on Tuesday night.
The Whittier Kindergarten Center will also be converted into Whittier Elementary for K-5 students, based on recommendations from a Neighborhood Schools Committee which has been meeting since November 2007.
Reassigning students to their nearest school is an effort to limit cross-town busing, saving the district up to 20 to 30 percent in transportation costs, and to build more of a sense of community around the neighborhood school, said Deputy Superintendent Jules Gaudin.
Some of the savings in transportation costs, mostly paid by the state, will likely be used to change the start times of the schools, giving the later start time to older kids at the middle schools and high school, Gaudin said. Currently the district has three different start times, which has the high school and some middle schools starting at 7:20 a.m., while some elementary schools start at 8 a.m. or 9 a.m. The district is considering having two different start times instead of three, Gaudin said.
Under the new neighborhood schools plan, parents of current fourth and seventh grade students will be given an option to move to the neighborhood school or remain in their present school. Parents will be notified by mail in February of any new school assignment for August 2009 ,and they'll receive instructions for "mail-in" registration and "parent voluntary transfer" procedures. Those students who stay in the present school will not be afforded school transportation.
The district will continue to provide free transportation to kindergartners and students whose residences are outside the 1.5 mile radius of the school, or whose addresses include crossing a hazardous route, as determined by the Illinois Department of Transportation.
The district has yet to determine the fee, if any, for transporting a student to or from an address that is not his or her residence, such as a day-care provider.
Anita Hanna was the only school board member to express concern about the neighborhood schools plan, though she voted to support it.
"I just can't understand the concept of removing a Kindergarten Center and we're going to have to expend dollars to renovate the Whittier building," she said.
Gaudin said the modifications to the Whittier building would be "very minor."
Whittier School will minimally need cafeteria equipment such as coolers, freezers and ovens. The smaller furniture, library books and classroom supplies already in place at the building will need to be traded out with the other elementary schools for supplies for older students.
Board President June Maguire suggested that the parent-teacher organizations at the schools have some kind of welcoming event for the students before the school year starts.
"So students are comfortable attending the new schools," she said.
Waukegan started to move away from neighborhood schools in the 1970s by busing students to other schools to improve integration and to reduce overcrowding. It has created a situation where some students, who can walk to a nearby school, are required to take a bus to a school further away.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1325451,5_1_WA11_WAUKSKOOL_S1.article">http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/news ... S1.article</a><!-- m -->