Changing Hinsdale Central Boundary? Official Raises Issue

DARIEN, IL — Hinsdale High School District 86 officials on Thursday looked at ways to fix the disparity between course offerings at the district's two schools.

But for two hours, no one mentioned a possible solution — a boundary change between Hinsdale Central and South high schools.

The gap is inherent: Central is double the size of South, so Central can offer far more courses.

Boundary changes are often controversial. In Elmhurst, school board members refer to the issue as the B-word.

The topic is particularly contentious in District 86. Both Central and South rate well compared to most Illinois schools. But Central, based in wealthy Hinsdale, is considered among the best schools nationwide.

Some South residents are pushing to change the attendance zones to balance enrollments between the schools, so South could offer more courses.

Over the years, Central residents near the boundary fear a change would cause their property values to plunge.

In last year's school board election, just one of the nine candidates taking part in a debate said he would favor a boundary change. The other eight said it was off the table.

At Thursday's meeting, officials discussed adding three teachers to South, so the district could offer a number of low-enrollment classes. But one board member warned of the costs — projected at $1.5 million over four years.

Another issue that was mentioned: Central is suffering from a lack of space.

Only one of the seven board members, Cynthia Hanson, lives in the South zone.

After two hours of debate, Hanson noted the issue of Central's space constraints was mentioned. Then she said the board had "danced around" a particular subject.

She said the district should consider doing something about the difference in enrollments between the schools. Such a move, she said, would lessen the gap in offerings.

Hanson did not utter the B-word at first. That was left to Superintendent Tammy Prentiss.

"Are you asking to relook at boundaries?" Prentiss asked.

Hanson said it was a consideration. She said it seemed like a possible way to avoid the costs of offering low-enrollment classes.

"It is worth a deep-dive conversation," she said.

Board member Kathleen Hirsman said a boundary change could be a potential future discussion.

"Nothing is off the table," Hirsman said. "We're certainly not going to get into that tonight."

Member Peggy James, a winner in last year's election, said she had no interest in a boundary change "at this time."

"We're coming out of a pandemic when our students have been facing an insurmountable amount of change," James said. "We want to return them to a normal environment."

Hanson said the term "boundary change" seemed scary.

"It should be looked at as a financial decision when we talk about boundaries," she said.

Member Jeff Waters, who said he was against a boundary change, asked for the opinion of Chris Covino, assistant superintendent for academics.

Covino said it was a fact the schools have differences because of their sizes. A smaller school, he said, would be unable to offer as many courses as a bigger one.

"I'm being careful not to take a position here," Covino said.

No decisions were made.