600 St. Charles Students Will Switch Schools Next Year

ST. CHARLES, IL – Fox Ridge Elementary School parents packed a District 303 school board meeting on Monday night with many speaking up against a proposal to re-purpose the school as an early education center. But ultimately, the school board voted to do just that. Elementary students will finish up their school year at Fox Ridge before they are funneled to either Munhall, Norton Creek or Lincoln elementary schools next year.

And they won't be the only students switching schools. The school board also voted Monday boundary changes that will mean 600 District 303 elementary students will attend new schools starting with the 2018-19 school year.

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The votes came after District 303 administrators were tasked with coming up with a solution to address declining enrollment across its elementary schools and finding a way to better balance its boundaries since some schools are under-utilized while others are over-utilized.

Many Fox Ridge parents speaking in favor of keeping their school open said the decision was rushed and did not fairly take into consideration closing other schools or other options.

"I think a lot of valid questions have been asked and not answered," Fox Ridge parent Danielle Penman said. "...we have many doubts that this is the best possible option first and foremost for our students and then our community."

Repurposing Fox Ridge School, at 1905 Tyler Road in St. Charles, will save District 303 $280,000, according to District 303.

District 303 documents show which students will be switching schools in 2018-19:

In developing the boundaries, administrators used the following principles: adjust boundaries for elementary schools but do not adjust boundaries for middle or high schools; allow students within 1.5 driving miles of a school, who can walk to a school, to attend that school; and take advantage of changes to the geography of the district since the last time elementary school boundaries were changed, according to District 303 school board packet. Changes in geography to be considered included the two Fox River bridges that have been built.

Photo via GoogleMaps