20112012BoundaryChanges
Community High School District 155

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District 155 Enrollment & Boundary Update

Board Approves New Boundary for Cary-Grove & Prairie Ridge


The District 155 Board of Education approved changes to the boundary between Cary-Grove and Prairie Ridge at its October 19 meeting. The changes align Cary-Grove's boundary to those for District 26, to allow District 155 to more effectively and efficiently educate its students.

The changes will go into effect for the 2011-2012 school year. Families that will have a school choice under the approved transition plan (see below), will receive additional information in the mail. For families residing in the impacted area with current Prairie Ridge students or current 8th graders, the choice will need to be recorded with the district on the official form on or before December 1.

The district has compiled a Frequently Asked Questions section to address questions that arose at the community meetings or in subsequent comment forms, phone calls, or emails received by the district. You can access the FAQ here.

The boundary decision was preceded by a process that included four public meetings of the Boundary and Enrollment Committee, two community meetings, the collection of additional community feedback by email and phone, and much analysis by district administrators.

Approved Boundary Map with Changes (Effective 2011-2012 School Year)
A PDF version of the new boundary for the 2011-2012 school year is available here. The area surrounded by red with red hash marks is the area of District 26 that currently attends Prairie Ridge, but will attend Cary-Grove beginning with the 2011-2012 school year.


Approved Transition for Enrollment Under New Boundaries
The Board of Education has approved the following transition guidelines for enrollment related to students residing in the areas affected by the boundary change:
  1. Any high school student residing in the D26 boundaries who attended Prairie Ridge High School during the 2010-2011 school year may elect to attend either Cary-Grove High School or Prairie Ridge High School. (Transportation provided)
  2. Any 7th or 8th grade student during the 2010-2011 school year, residing in the D26 boundaries and also residing in the PRHS boundaries, may elect to attend either CGHS or PRHS unless they have an older sibling who will attend CGHS, in which case the younger sibling also will attend CGHS. (Transportation provided)
  3. If an older sibling is attending PRHS, the younger sibling has a choice to attend PRHS, as long as they will be at PRHS concurrently. (Provide own transportation unless available route exists)
  4. Any student who is in 6th grade or below during the 2010-2011 school year and resides in the D26 boundaries will attend CGHS unless they have an older sibling at PRHS. (Siblings must attend PRHS concurrently; no transportation unless available route exists)
  5. Any transfer student–new to D155–who lives in the D26 boundaries will attend CGHS.
Note: Once a choice of high school for a student is made by the parent or guardian, it will be deemed as a final decision for the duration of that student’s high school career. Any subsequent request to change high schools will be subject to the D155 intradistrict transfer process, as well as IHSA regulations for transfer students.


Background Information Regarding Boundary Changes
As part of the strategic planning process, District 155 carefully considers enrollment projections each year in an effort to ensure that students are being served in the best manner possible. As the district’s enrollment trend starts to decline, it provides an opportunity to examine school boundaries. The analysis goes beyond gathering the raw, projected student numbers. The district considered many factors including:
  • Impact on students and families
  • Program equity
  • Community input
  • School size/enrollment
  • Demographics
  • Financial Impact
  • Impact on staff
  • IHSA rules
  • Facility capacity
  • Transportation
  • Expected future enrollment trends

Prior to this shift, District 155 had not moved boundaries since Prairie Ridge High School opened in 1997. During that time, enrollment numbers at each school have increased, including a 42% increase to the total District 155 population (see chart below). In terms of actual enrollment numbers, there has been an increase of 2,051 students from the 1997-1998 school year to the 2010-2011 school year.