Unspoken Subject Broached In Hinsdale D86

HINSDALE, IL – The idea of a boundary change between Hinsdale Central and South high schools is largely avoided during school board meetings.

But at his last full meeting Thursday, board President Erik Held brought it up. He called changing the line as a solution "no one likes to ever talk about." But he said it's a tool in the board's toolbox.

"No board can ignore the tools they have at hand, no matter how difficult the conversation would be," Held said. "It cannot be ignored when you're dealing with serious operational impact to students."

For years, Hinsdale Central, with a wealthier student body, has offered a greater course selection because it is nearly twice South's size. South residents have complained about the inequity.

For decades, many have moved to the Central zone for the schools. They fear their property values would plunge if the boundary shifted north.

At Thursday's meeting, Held spoke about a demographic report that shows the disparity in enrollment should last another 15 years.

South's freshman class for next year is expected to be 288, with officials saying the number has never dipped below 300.

The school board, Superintendent Tammy Prentiss said, should start having discussions now if South's enrollment continues to fall, rather than waiting for it to happen.

Held said one possibility would be to run smaller class sizes at South, so it could offer more courses. But that would result in increased costs, he said.

Board member Cynthia Hanson, the only one of the seven from the South zone, has expressed an openness to a boundary change.

"We shy away from it, we don't really discuss it," Hanson said at the meeting.

She also said lowering class sizes at South is an option.

Member Peggy James said the demographic report was about what she expected. She asked Prentiss about it.

Prentiss said the district tells board members every year which classes did not run at South and Central because of low enrollment. The list is much longer for South.

Reducing class sizes at South would be expensive, Prentiss said. It would prompt the district's finance official to ask for offsetting spending cuts, she said.

The terms for Held, Hanson and Kathleen Hirsman end Wednesday.