Post by title1parent on Aug 9, 2011 5:39:14 GMT -5
District challenge: Relieve overcrowding
By ERika Wurst
ewurst@stmedianetwork.com
Last Modified: Aug 9, 2011 02:13AM
AURORA — Population growth on the city’s East Side has forced School Board President Annette Johnson to get creative lately as she looks for ways to absorb the increasing number of children the district must serve.
Last year, 537 additional children registered with the district, she said. This comes despite the fact that there was no additional real estate built which would pump revenue into the budget.
And this year’s projections could be the same.
“We need to find an equitable solution to lighten the load,” Johnson said Monday.
That means residents could possibly see a referendum up for vote in the next three or four years, she said.
“All of our buildings have had growth, not just a couple of them. Ideally what we would do to save our residents money is find existing property on the East Side to renovate,” Johnson said. “We’re coming up with cost efficient ways to get around this growth.”
Instead of building a new elementary school, middle school or high school, Johnson said the board has discussed finding a building to host the district’s recently created Magnet School program. The building would house students in grades three through eight who have been accepted into the program. Kids would be drawn from each school, thus lightening the load of students on a district-wide level, Johnson said.
Concern also has developed over the transfer of students from Jericho Circle, the West Side public housing complex which is being closed down, Johnson said.
“I don’t know where these kids will end up, and the Aurora Housing Authority won’t give us projections,” she said. “It’s not only Jericho Circle, although everyone is certainly talking about that. We’re also getting housing vouchers coming out of Chicago and Maywood ... it’s an interesting problem.”
The district does have open classrooms, but those rooms are being used to house the district’s preschool students.
Bardwell Elementary is already filled with primary school students and houses no preschool classes. Preschool students who live in the Bardwell area are being transported to Johnson Elementary.
School overcrowding, Johnson said, “is not helping the kids.”
“There’s going to be a point where we need to find more space ... ,” she said. “In three to four years, if we can’t deal with this growth situation or find a vacant building, we could see another referendum, but we’re still working on it.”
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Copyright © 2011 — Sun-Times Media, LLC
By ERika Wurst
ewurst@stmedianetwork.com
Last Modified: Aug 9, 2011 02:13AM
AURORA — Population growth on the city’s East Side has forced School Board President Annette Johnson to get creative lately as she looks for ways to absorb the increasing number of children the district must serve.
Last year, 537 additional children registered with the district, she said. This comes despite the fact that there was no additional real estate built which would pump revenue into the budget.
And this year’s projections could be the same.
“We need to find an equitable solution to lighten the load,” Johnson said Monday.
That means residents could possibly see a referendum up for vote in the next three or four years, she said.
“All of our buildings have had growth, not just a couple of them. Ideally what we would do to save our residents money is find existing property on the East Side to renovate,” Johnson said. “We’re coming up with cost efficient ways to get around this growth.”
Instead of building a new elementary school, middle school or high school, Johnson said the board has discussed finding a building to host the district’s recently created Magnet School program. The building would house students in grades three through eight who have been accepted into the program. Kids would be drawn from each school, thus lightening the load of students on a district-wide level, Johnson said.
Concern also has developed over the transfer of students from Jericho Circle, the West Side public housing complex which is being closed down, Johnson said.
“I don’t know where these kids will end up, and the Aurora Housing Authority won’t give us projections,” she said. “It’s not only Jericho Circle, although everyone is certainly talking about that. We’re also getting housing vouchers coming out of Chicago and Maywood ... it’s an interesting problem.”
The district does have open classrooms, but those rooms are being used to house the district’s preschool students.
Bardwell Elementary is already filled with primary school students and houses no preschool classes. Preschool students who live in the Bardwell area are being transported to Johnson Elementary.
School overcrowding, Johnson said, “is not helping the kids.”
“There’s going to be a point where we need to find more space ... ,” she said. “In three to four years, if we can’t deal with this growth situation or find a vacant building, we could see another referendum, but we’re still working on it.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright © 2011 — Sun-Times Media, LLC