In the end, the hassle associated with redrawing the school calendar and bucking tradition was too great.
For some, the idea of classes 12 months a year was too radical for conservative Crystal Lake. For others, the idea didn`t make economic sense. And for most, it was simply too hard parting with the long-standing, cherished summer break.
Bowing to public pressure, the Crystal Lake District 47 school board has rejected a plan to ease overcrowding by sending pupils to school on a year-round basis.
The Monday night decision came after nearly a year of exhaustive studies, hearings and debates about the merits and drawbacks of year-round schooling.
Board members, acknowledging the inconveniences associated with abandoning the 9-month calendar, opted instead for a more traditional plan to accommodate growth: building new schools.
The school board`s approval of the plan sends the issue to the Nov. 3 ballot, where voters will have the final say on whether to build an elementary school and a junior high.
Both plans were among four being considered by the district, which is grappling with an enrollment that has soared in five years to 6,200 from 4,700 and is expected to grow by 2,000 more by the turn of the century.
”The overwhelming response (from residents at public hearings) was we don`t want year-round schools; if you need the buildings, let`s build them,” Supt. Richard Bernotas said Tuesday.
”Basically, they felt it wouldn`t solve the growth problems and the social upheaval wasn`t worth it and that it would cause too many problems for families,” he said.
Crystal Lake, like many McHenry County communities, is going through a building boom. For many of the county`s school districts, which are experiencing cuts in state aid and a cap on the amount they can raise their property tax levies, the boom could not come at a worse time.
The districts, also encountering taxpayers unwilling to pass tax increases, are looking at a number of unique, yet cost-effective methods to minimize crowding. For instance, school systems in Richmond, Burton and Spring Grove are considering forming a unit district to save money.
The year-round proposal called for kindergarten to 5th-grade pupils to be placed in four tracks. Pupils in Grades 6 to 8 would have remained in a traditional system.
Schedules would have rotated, with three tracks on and one off. Students would have attended classes in 9- or 12-week cycles followed by a three-week break.
The original idea was that the district would save money by constructing fewer new schools, because it would use existing buildings more efficiently.
But the district`s later projections showed that year-round schooling actually would not have saved as much money as was initially believed.
Year-round schooling would have required a $13.5 million bond issue to build a new junior high school. And it would have cost taxpayers hundreds of more dollars a year to pay for salaries of the additional administrators to run the system.
The school board turned down two other proposals, one calling for the construction of two elementary schools at a cost of $12.4 million; the other borrowing $13.6 million to renovate the vacant Oak Industries building into a junior high and elementary school.
In a 7-0 decision, the school board agreed to seek voter approval to sell $17.2 million in bonds to construct a new junior high school and a new elementary school.
School board members plan to meet Monday to devise the wording for the November referendum ballot, which will include a second proposal to raise taxes to pay for the hiring of an additional 70 teachers for the two new schools.
The year-round proposal was the most radical solution to crowded classrooms.
Since its introduction last fall, the year-round proposal generated only lukewarm support from some parents, school officials and community leaders.
At the same time, though, it sparked strong opposition from the Crystal Lake Elementary Teachers Association, which asserted that the proposal would have provided little educational benefit to youngsters yet caused major adjustments by families and community agencies.
”Right now in talking to the other schools (with year-round learning)
and reading all the information that is available, there is no overwhelming evidence that shows that a year-round school is more advantageous than a traditional school,” said Gail Dowdakin, president of the 300-member union.
”We have taken a survey of our members, and the vast majority are opposed to year-round schooling, not because we think it`s a bad idea, but because the infrastructure isn`t in place in the community to make it possible.”
Teachers as well as other opponents point to the district`s year-round report that says area day-care centers and the city`s Park District would not have been able to accommodate pupils during breaks.
The report, prepared by a citizens committee, suggested that the majority of pupils on break would need a place to go, because more than half the district`s pupils come from homes where both parents work.
According to the report, 80 percent of the day-care center operators surveyed expressed negative feelings toward year-round schooling. Some said they would have had to hire more teachers and expand their buildings.
Officials at the Crystal Lake Park District said their recreational programs are already at capacity and that year-round schooling would have forced them to cancel some programs to accommodate the additional youngsters. The report, though, also cited several advantages to year-round schooling. Shorter breaks help students retain what they`ve learned and studies show that teacher burnout and absentee rates dropped at year-round schools, the report says.
But in the end, such benefits were not enough to sway the school board.
”It would be very hard on the community,” board member Sharon Rozycki said Monday night. ”Families are under enough stress already.”
