News from CCSD15 Board of Education

At the April 21, 2021 Committee of the Whole meeting, Superintendent Laurie Heinz, members of her leadership team, and District partners from STR Architects, RSP & Associates, and EOSullivan Consulting/Cor Strategies shared a bold, comprehensive Beyond Just Boundaries proposal. We hope you find time to view the full presentation.

Years of conversation, research and community input -- along with outside expertise to guide recommendations surrounding school capacity, boundary line adjustments, facility needs, Health/Life Safety and demographic trends -- have been melded into a unique proposal that addresses key, long standing community desires and shared high-value priorities to continuously improve all aspects of District 15.

Director of Facilities James Kaplanes conducted an Internal Facilities Assessment to confirm current facility utilization per school. The assessment brought clarity around our overall building capacity per school. Assessment findings were compared to STR’s initial capacity projections and used as the District data set moving forward.

STR Architects & members of the D15 facility team conducted walk-throughs to ascertain current building capacities and utilization to ensure that we had an accurate view of current facilities.

RSP Associates utilized their forecasting model to create various capacity and boundary scenarios to see which combinations could help the District accomplish their target capacity of 85%.

EOSullivan Consulting was brought in to engage the community around the 9 high value priorities generated through their combined work. The 9 high value priorities community participants learned about and ranked include:

1. Focus on Near-Neighborhood Schools

2. Establish a Cohesive Educational Path for Students

3. Balance Enrollment

4. Offer Full-Day Kindergarten for All

5. Upgrade to a Middle School Model

6. Eliminate the Bilingual Overlay

7. Ensure Equitable Access to Programs & Services

8. Utilize Our Facilities More Efficiently

9. Repair and Restore Our School Buildings

Multilingual Services and Bilingual Overlay

Assistant Superintendent for Multilingual Services, Renee Urbanski, addressed the Board and explained the history of the bilingual overlay and shared the benefits removing the overlay will afford our students such as being able to attend school with neighborhood peers and closer to their home.

Special Education Self Contained Program Placement

Assistant Superintendent for Student Services Ann Scully shared recommendations for changes to some self-contained special education programs across our schools. The recommendations provide a more equitable distribution of the special education programs across the district, in many instances, shortening the distance students need to travel to attend school.

Gifted Education Program Placement

Assistant Superintendent for District Improvement and Data Dr. Tom Edgar outlined the recommendations for the gifted program. The District was able to identify a new location for future gifted classrooms allowing any child that qualifies to participate in the program in a central location.

Full-Day Kindergarten

The rationale to bring full-day kindergarten to our District was shared. Benefits include more time for teachers to teach and students to learn, increased opportunities for fine arts, learning through developmental play, and building a stronger social emotional connections all of which will help increase their first grade readiness.

Middle School Concept and Study Committee

Transitioning to a Middle School model would ensure students spend more than just two years at the junior high and allows adolescent learners the opportunity to connect and collaborate through smaller communities for longer periods of time, leading to more individualized support, and allowing the District to explore the possibility of bringing more modern electives forward.

The District is forming a Middle School Study group to examine the benefits and opportunities such a transition could bring to our students.

District 15 feeds into three high schools. When working to address a high community value of building a cohesive preK - 8 educational pathway for D15 students, each fixed high school feeder was approached independently.

District 211:

• Palatine and Fremd High School

District 214:

• Rolling Meadows High School

Walter R. Sundling Middle School - grades 6-8

• Two K-5 elementary feeders: Gray M. Sanborn and Lincoln School

Winston Campus Middle School - grades 5-8

• Three K-4 elementary feeders will be: Jane Addams, Lake Louise, and Virginia Lake

• Winston Campus Elementary students will attend one of the three feeders. Dual Language students will be included within the Jane Addams dual language program.

Carl Sandburg Middle School - grades 6-8

• Two K-5 Elementary Feeders will be: Kimball Hill and Willow Bend

Plum Grove Middle School (PGMS) - grades 6-8

• Four K-5 Elementary Feeders will be: Central Road, Hunting Ridge, Pleasant Hill, and Stuart R. Paddock

Thomas Jefferson will be converted into a Middle School - grades 6-8

• Two K-5 Elementary Feeders will be: Frank C. Whiteley and Marion Jordan

The proposal addresses key, long standing community concerns and shared high-value priorities including:

• The high-value priorities from the Board, Administration, and the Boundaries Task Force are accomplished.

• The District uses the current high school zones as a driver for creating a cohesive feeder pattern.

• Neighborhood or near-neighborhood schools are achieved.

• The proposed boundaries accomplish balancing enrollment at all schools.

• Our educational programs are equitably distributed across the District.

• Full-day kindergarten and the middle school model can be implemented.

• The District is able to repair and modernize our aging facilities.

The proposal represents recommendations of District administration in collaboration with its outside partners. The target implementation, pending approval of the full or modified plan, would be the 2023-24 school year.

Board of Education Meeting on May 12, 2021 - The Board of Education will recap and further discuss the plans outlined at the April 21st meeting. The Board will discuss the 5-Year Health Life Safety Plan and receive an in-depth review of the financial implications and potential funding options.

Board of Education Meeting on June 9, 2021 - The Board of Education will further discuss the Beyond Just Boundaries plans as well as costs for all, some, or none of the priorities outlined. The Board will continue to discuss options for funding.

The Committee of the Whole meeting was live streamed and can be viewed on the District’s Youtube channel. The agenda, presentation, and past information regarding the Beyond Just Boundaries work are available on the District’s Beyond Just Boundaries webpage.

Email: CCSD15@ccsd15.net
Website: www.ccsd15.net
Location: 580 North 1st Bank Drive, Palatine, IL, USA
Phone: 847-963-3000
Facebook: facebook.com/CCSD15
Twitter: @D15Schools