Some residents in southwest suburban Homer Township are proposing to break away from the growing Lockport Township High School District 205.
The Citizens Advisory to Streamline Education, which wants to form its own K-12 district, said its proposal would allow for greater continuity because children would attend one district rather than two by the time they complete high school.
The residents’ group plans to launch a feasibility study but already has a rough outline for what the district might look like.
The group wants to take all District 33C schools and split Will County School District 92 along township lines, taking over two of its four schools. Group member Ann Holtz said boundaries wouldn’t be made final until the group files a petition with the Regional Office of Education, possibly sometime next year.
The residents’ group wants District 205 to again seek a referendum proposal to build a high school. The group would want to take over that building as well, assuming the debt that comes with it.
“The first and foremost thing is that they build a new high school on the district-owned land in Homer Glen,” Holtz said.
“We feel very strongly that the future of our community lies with the school district,” Holtz said. “If the school district declines, our community will decline.”
Supt. Garry Raymond said the group’s announcement of a proposed split was more than a shock.
“It was a bombshell,” he said. “It’s never been on the board’s radar screen. It’s not a solution to overcrowding. That’s our real challenge. It would tear this school district apart.”
Meta Minton, spokeswoman for the Illinois State Board of Education, said the state will leave the decision up to the community because Illinois emphasizes local control of schools.
She said the state has pushed for consolidations over creation of new districts to eliminate duplication at the administrative level. More money for superintendents and support staff could mean less money for children and classrooms, Minton said.
“It really is a community decision,” she said. “What we do is provide guidance and information.”
Illinois has 888 school districts, and only a few are considering splits, she said.
Residents who spoke at a meeting Thursday night to discuss District 205’s future said they wouldn’t support “de-annexation” because it would only divide the community. Critics of the plan said they don’t think the number of people backing the residents’ proposal is great.
Jo Ellen Simmons, who has grandchildren in the district, said the area of Homer Glen is too new to support its own district. Crest Hill Ald. Charlie Convery said a split would create an “us against them” mentality.
“It’s one school district now, and that’s how it should stay,” he said.
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jnapolitano@tribune.com
