Plans to relocate elementary-level special education programs at Crystal Lake School District 47 have been met with mixed reviews from parents.
The proposed changes to the Communication Development and Cross-Categorical programs come as the district has lost more than 600 students in the last five years. Projections also show the district could lose more than 1,000 students over the next seven to eight years.
The decline has allowed district officials to reevaluate the use of classroom space, which includes aligning special education programs under one roof after students have been forced to change buildings as they advance grade levels.
“We’re not talking about changing programming, but rather reexamining what building the program is located in,” Superintendent Donn Mendoza. “The last thing we want to do is make this move, then start bouncing students around again.”
Students in the Communication Development Program typically move between four schools through fifth grade, depending on their needs, according to district documents. Those students in the Cross-Categorical Program move between three schools. Students in both programs then attend Richard Bernotas Middle School sixth through eighth grade.
District officials are considering three options for the CDP — do nothing, move all classrooms to Woods Creek Elementary School next fall, or transitionally move the program to Woods Creek over the next three years.
The three-year transition would allow current third- and fourth-graders to remain at North Elementary School through fifth grade. Current second-graders would then have the option of staying or moving.
Parent Dina Hansen’s daughter is enrolled in the CDP as a third-grader at North Elementary — the third school she has been since kindergarten.
Hansen agrees the programs should be housed in one central location, but worries the affect another change could have on her daughter, who suffers from anxiety.
“It’s not that we don’t want the change to happen, but we’re all worried about having to start all over again,” she said. “The whole community (around North Elementary) knows it’s there. The proposed schools have never had an integrated program at their schools.”
Lisa Yelle is also worried about the affect the change could have on her third-grade son enrolled in the CDP at North Elementary.
“He’s become acclimated where he is and has made a lot of friends,” Yelle said. “The regular education kids know they are there. He’ll be put somewhere else where they have never had special education students, and would not be treated the same.”
Cross-Categorical options being weighed include leaving them as is or moving all classrooms to Indian Prairie Elementary School.
“The essence is to limit the transition for the kids,” Mendoza said. “We want to make sure wherever we place them, it’s sustainable in the long term because it’s clearly not good for any child in any program to keep moving from building to building to building.”
If officials move forward with relocation of either program, it would include a two-minute each way increase in the bus ride for Cross-Categorical students, and a 10-minute increase each way for CDP students.
All program teachers and related service staff would travel with their classrooms to the new location, and more than 30 students could be affected, according to officials. Regular education staff and administrators at the school would also be trained.
If the programs are relocated, 26 of the 30 sections will be at or under the District 47 class-size guidelines, according to district documents. If programs remain the same, 19 of 30 will be under the guidelines for elementary schools.
It would also help avoid creating a special education magnet school at either the elementary or middle school level.
Four informational meetings have been scheduled for parents over the next two weeks. A decision is expected by the school board’s March 19 meeting.
“I fully understand that transitions are difficult, and whenever change is discussed it created anxiety for the parents and students,” Mendoza said. “We’re trying to be as thoughtful as we can about this and parent input is always a part of the process.”
