This D86 Official Blunt About Central-South Gap

DARIEN, IL – Hinsdale High School District 86 officials often skirt the fact that Hinsdale South gets the short end of the stick with course selection.

But there's at least one official who doesn't talk around the issue – Cheryl Moore, assistant superintendent of human resources.

For years, the wealthier and larger Hinsdale Central has offered a greater course selection than South.

During a March district committee meeting, Moore conceded the difficulty of offering the same courses at South, where enrollment is half of Central's.

"When you have 1,300 students and this many options, the math is only seven periods a day. You will not have all these classes filled, it's a mathematical improbability," Moore said. "It is a problem, and it will be a problem every single year we do staffing."

She also minced few words at Thursday's school board meeting.

In scheduling, Moore said, South will naturally have more courses known as "singletons" that run only once a day.

"The more singleton classes you have, the more chance you have conflicts in the schedule," Moore said. "There's not a good way around it. There's a higher chance you'll have conflicts at South."

The statistics bear out what Moore is saying. Earlier this year, the district found that 16.4 percent of South students did not get one of their course choices, 11 times more than Central's 1.5 percent.

Interim Superintendent Linda Yonke said that with the latest computer programs, scheduling has improved.

Moore replied, "But there are constraints, Dr. Yonke," adding the district approaches "a hard line that we cannot overcome" because of the limits at South.

Board member Jeff Waters said canceled and low-enrollment courses occur at every school.

"I personally want to figure out how to align for the benefit of South students," he said.

Of the board's seven members, five live in the Central zone.