Redistricting at 230

With all of the things that go on in a school district; all of the decisions that school boards make, very few things get people as charged up as redistricting. Personnel get hired and fired, taxes get levied, programs come and go, but tell parents that their kids won't be going to the school they expected and the fireworks begin.

Redistricing is a fact of life in districts that have multiple schools. Sometimes certain areas wind up having more children attending a school and another area has fewer. One school starts to get overcrowded and another is emptier than Comiskey Park during a division run.

I understand why people get upset about redistricting. Sometimes one school in a district is perceived to be superior (Sandburg) and another one is perceived to be a step or two lower (Andrew). Because of that, folks move into an area that sends their kids to Sandburg only to find out several years later that they will go to Andrew instead.

Others question why their kids have to travel several miles to get to one school when there is another school a few blocks away. Even if you don't know the actual boundaries, it make sense to assume that your kids will go to the school that is closest to your home.

The thing to keep in mind is that District 230 does their redistricting based on grade school districts. This allows all of the children who graduate from a particular grade school district to go to the same high school. This makes transitioning to high school less daunting to a student who gets to stay with their friends from eighth grade. It also allows teachers in junior high to create lesson plans that best prepare students to succeed in their respective high schools.

Out of the various grade school districts that comprise District 230, District 135 is far and away the largest. The southern part of 135 is much close to Andrew than Sandburg, but since all of 135 goes to Sandburg, those students have to travel further.

Some folks are upset at the way the board went about redistricting. Some suggested that there should have been more input from parents, perhaps, a committee of some kind. Those are good ideas, but the school board has to make this decision. They can't delegate it to a committee. No matter whose input they listen to, they have to make a decision knowing that whatever they do, there are going to be a lot of people upset.

I have two suggestions for the board. First, make certain that the redistricting is necessary to avoid overcrowding at Sandburg, not just to preserve jobs at Andrew. Second, always make sure that all three schools provide students with an equal opportunity for success in high school. No school in the district should be "better" than the others, nor should any school be worse. You can't always change perception, but you sure can change reality.