The 89 students at Franklin Middle School who would have to switch schools next year under an overcrowding easement plan proposed by school district officials may not have to transfer if school board members decide to vote for a different plan, which administrators proposed this week.
After hearing parents’ concerns at a January meeting about the plan to move students, administrators at Wheaton Warrenville School District 200 have put forth two alternative plans this week, which include allowing current Franklin students in certain neighborhoods who would be affected to stay at the school until they complete eighth grade, said district superintendent Brian Harris. A second alternative would allow only current seventh- and eighth- graders to stay at Franklin until they graduate middle school, rather than transferring them to Monroe Middle School, as the original district recommendation suggested.
Under the two alternatives, families affected by the transfer will still have the option to send their children to Monroe Middle School, the school that district officials say has extra room to accommodate the overflow of students at Franklin.
Harris said the alternative plans were proposed to the school board “guided by parent feedback” that school officials got at the Jan. 18 meeting, where more than 15 parents and a student spoke out against the boundary changes.
“A lot of parents came up to the (microphone) and said ‘just let my kids finish there,’” Harris said.
According to district data, enrollment at Franklin Middle School, at 211 E. Franklin St., has increased from 709 students in 2007 to 780 students this school year. During that same time, enrollment at the district’s other three middle schools have declined.
Franklin Middle School Principal Dave Bendis has said teachers are using auditorium and library space at the school as makeshift classrooms.
While Harris said the district’s original plan of moving students in certain neighborhoods for the next school year would provide immediate overcrowding relief at Franklin, he said having the other two options for board consideration was important so families may get a choice.
The boundary changes affect students who live in the Parkway Commons South apartment complex and those who live north of Geneva Road and south of Tubeway Drive or west of Schmale Road and east of Gary Avenue.
The D200 school board is expected to discuss the proposals at its meeting at 7:30 p.m. tonight at Monroe Middle School, 1855 Manchester Road in Wheaton.
The board will have the ultimate say as to which plan moves forward, but Harris said no vote is expected to be taken on the issue until March.
