ROCHELLE — Rochelle Elementary District No. 231 board members were presented with a recommendation from superintendent Jason Harper at Tuesday night’s school board meeting that would transition the elementary district to an attendance center model for the 2021-2022 school year for kindergarten through fifth grade students.

The recommendation moves away from the neighborhood school model historically used by the district. The plan is that next year, Lincoln School would house all preschool, kindergarten and first grade students. Central School would serve all second and third grade students. Tilton School would be home to all fourth and fifth grade students. May School would not have students in attendance next year and there would be no changes for Rochelle Middle School.

“My preference would be to not make this recommendation at all but unfortunately, our enrollment continues to decline,” Harper said. “Our projections show May School being half full next year and it is crucial to consider all options.”

Overall, the district has seen a 13 percent drop in enrollment in the last 10 years and a 21 percent decline in the past two decades. On top of declining enrollments, the majority of parents are choosing Dual Language programming, already moving half of the district’s elementary students out of their neighborhood school. These factors have caused May School enrollment numbers to project as only half full next school year.

Attendance center schools would call for all students in a grade level to attend the same building as opposed to going to a neighborhood school determined by physical address. Attendance centers are a common approach to early elementary education and allow for increased teacher collaboration, more targeted interventions for struggling students and a more equitable distribution of district resources to benefit all students regardless of where they live.

“As with any decision, there is also a financial aspect to consider. By making this change, the district anticipates saving $200,000 in year one and $300,000 each year after that,” Harper stated. “Since we do not know what school funding will look like after the pandemic, part of this plan is to be proactive with district funds to avoid the need for further staff cuts, changes to class sizes, or property tax increases in the near future.”

Harper discussed one short term benefit of moving to attendance centers is that the district can now more easily assign staff to allow for all day schooling during the pandemic. 

“As a parent, I think many will be relieved to hear if the district adopts this model then all day school is a more likely option for next year,” board member Trisha Vaughn said.

Transportation and parent convenience were noted as major drawbacks to this plan. Harper stated the district is ready to accommodate parents to ease the transition by continuing to use each building as transportation hubs for bus shuttles in the morning and afternoon.

“I understand that this recommendation is emotional for everyone involved. We plan to continue to engage with our teachers to hear their feedback and strengthen the recommendation. We also want to hear from our parents to address their questions and concerns,” Harper said.

Parent meeting

The district will host parent meetings on Thursday, Feb. 11. An English language meeting will take place at 5 p.m. followed by a 7 p.m. Spanish language meeting. Both meetings will be held at Lincoln School in the cafeteria. All COVID-19 pandemic mitigation guidance will be followed. All attending must wear a mask.

Following Tuesday night's meeting, a message was sent out to all district parents about the recommendation. A link to the presentation and information was given to parents as well. That link is https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-e6LQ2zkJ3vbU9qRSwXOha3DWloUBXYJJY58oZy1b2I/edit#slide=id.p

Board members are expected to hear input from the public at the March board meeting and will make a decision at the April meeting whether to move forward with the recommended transition or stay with the current neighborhood model system.