Indian Prairie School District 204 is considering creating a committee to review boundaries within the district.
Enrollment Study
That’s after an RSP & Associates enrollment study predicted four elementary schools, three middle schools, and Metea Valley High School will be over 100% capacity over the next five years.
The study also shows 19 schools, including Neuqua Valley High School, are expected to be under 75% capacity over the next five years.
Potential Boundary Committee
The committee is yet to be formed, but District 204 Superintendent Dr. Adrian Talley said it could be comprised of community members, district staff, and more.
“[On] May 17, [2021] there will be a board workshop where we talk about what are some of these guiding principles and criteria need to be in establishing what the process would look like, what this committee will be addressing, and how we get to the end of this process in January of 2022,” said CEO of RSP & Associates Robert Schwarz.
The committee would meet eight times from July to December of 2021, with a couple of board of education workshops in December 2021 and January 2022.
“As I see this process unfold, I see this being very much like Engage 204 where we have parent groups, and a lot of our parent advocates come and attend committee meetings and work through the data to make recommendations to the board of education about how we can handle some of our opportunities and challenges associated with our enrollment,” said Chief School Business Official Jay Strang.
Data Used For Enrollment Study
Using analysis data from IPSD204, DuPage and Will counties, the cities of Aurora and Naperville, townships of Naperville and Wheatland, the U.S. Geological Study, and the census, the RSP study focused on the district enrollment, developments, enrollment projections, and moving forward over the next five years.
Nationally and regionally, declining enrollment seems to be the trend due to fewer children being born.
According to District 204, RSP previously conducted enrollment studies in 2012 and 2017 with a 98% accuracy on enrollment projections.
What Will The Boundary Committee Do?
The committee, if created, would look at the data study by RSP, and other yet to be determined criteria, and help make recommendations to the board on how to balance enrollment in areas that are over or under capacity.
The full presentation can be found on the district’s website.
Naperville News 17’s Christian Canizal reports.
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