With almost nowhere left to squeeze in hundreds of new students who arrive every year in Waukegan’s crowded schools, officials are considering a plan to switch some buildings to a year-round schedule.
The plan would put students into classrooms during the summer, but it would be cheaper than building schools or having students attend school in shifts, said Waukegan School District 60 Supt. Richard Olson.
“We’re essentially full,” Olson said. “We have some classrooms that can handle an increase next year, but beyond that we need some options.”
An increasing number of schools in Illinois and nationwide have turned to year-round schedules to relieve crowding and avoid what researchers call “summer learning loss,” which often occurs when students have a three-month break in classroom instruction.
But critics say year-round schedules make summers difficult for families and disrupt children’s social lives.
“I don’t particularly care for it,” said Cheryl Graham Ptasienski, who lives in the school district and is a member of its strategic planning committee.
A year-round schedule “creates inconsistency in kids,” Ptasienski said. “Where do you find the quality of care for them when they’re out of school? How do you set up their social life? I can see a real disaster coming with this.”
For now, the year-round schedule is merely an idea for Waukegan. There is enough classroom space that the school board will not have to decide what to do until the 2005-06 school year, officials said.
But the proposal was brought up at a staff meeting last month, and East Middle School Principal Cathy Watkins volunteered to have her school pilot a year-round schedule if officials decide to pursue the concept.
The district has 16,300 students in kindergarten through 12th grade in 24 buildings and has been growing by 200 to 400 students a year, officials said.
“The number of classrooms is about exhausted,” Olson said. The district recently decided not to go through with one option to free up more space–converting elementary school libraries to classrooms–after residents and staff objected.
Year-round schooling “gives you more space without adding buildings,” he said. “If you build a school for millions of dollars, it will cost more to open and operate than going to year-round schooling. Going to split shifts is more expensive too.”
Olson has proposed a quarterly schedule that would give students nine weeks of instruction followed by three-week breaks all year long. The breaks would be staggered. As a result, there would always be one-fourth of the student population on break, freeing up classroom space.
Nearly 3,400 schools in the U.S. use some form of year-round schooling, according to the National Association for Year-Round Education.
In Illinois, 29 schools use a year-round schedule, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. Most are in Downstate districts or in Chicago, which has 16 schools going year-round. Lincoln School in Mundelein is the only Lake County school with a year-round schedule, officials said.
Year-round schedules have gained acceptance for social and educational reasons, said Charles Ballinger, executive director emeritus at the national association.
“Historically, more and more people say the old school calendar is tied to the rural calendar,” Ballinger said. “And now no more than 3 percent of U.S. school kids are involved in agriculture.”
Waukegan school board members say they’re open to the idea but want more information about year-round schooling costs and its educational and social impact.
“I suggested doing it 30 years ago when I first ran for the school board,” said board President Patricia Foley. “I don’t fear it. People are only afraid of trying new stuff.”
