Nearly a dozen angry parents crowded the Woodland School District 50 board room Thursday night to show their opposition to a new policy that led to their elementary and middle school children being regrouped this year in new classes away from their friends.
The parents from Gurnee and Grayslake told board members that their children were “arbitrarily” removed from the classes they were in last year and placed in different groups because district administrators wanted to keep together the pupils who will eventually go to Grayslake High School.
“Administrative convenience was given precedence over consideration of the students,” said Gurnee parent Mark Holm.
Woodland pupils in 3rd through 8th grades are placed in large teams in which they are supposed to continue from one year to the next to foster both social and educational consistency, according to district officials.
But a new administrative policy initiated this year put future Grayslake High School students together on the same team.
School board members declined to comment directly on the issue, but the parents were told that they would receive a written answer in the near future.
