The Unit 5 school board has been presented with a capacity study to help the district assess how to best handle shifts in population and students.
The study, produced by the firm Cropper GIS Consulting, identifies trends in current facility usage and offers potential solutions to be used in the future.
The study shows Normal Community High School, with more than 2,000 students, is currently operating at capacity, and Normal West, with more than 1,600 students, is veering close to the same.
Speaking at the school board's meeting Wednesday night, Cropper GIS president Matthew Cropper said it could be prudent for Unit 5 to explore adding new space at existing buildings — rather than hitching hopes on the idea of a new high school.
Superintendent Kristen Weikle concurred after the board’s meeting, held at Normal West.
“With both high schools, we’re fortunate that we have land on those campuses that if we need to expand, we could," said Weikle. "Some of our other buildings in the district may not have that ability.”
Junior highs and high schools are more prone to capacity issues because students move from class to class, putting more stress on space at those schools.
The district already plans to add more portable classrooms for the next school year. Each portable unit equates to two classrooms. Towanda Elementary will receive its second unit, and Cedar Ridge and Parkside elementary schools will have two each, starting next school year.
At the junior high level, Evans — the largest school by enrollment — also is over capacity with 741 students. Kingsley Junior High shows the most room for growth at 71% capacity. Cropper said balancing the student population may be a worthwhile course of action.
“It suggests to me there’s a pretty wide swing in how the buildings are being used among the four junior highs, something that may need to be looked at further to see if there’s any way to try to balance utilization,” he said.
Elementary schools also saw varying utilization. Carlock Elementary, with by far the smallest enrollment in Unit 5, is well below its minimum capacity. The K-5 school has 105 students, including only 13 in second grade this year.
“It’s basically a one-section school right now, one class per grade level,” Cropper said.
Carlock Elementary was targeted for possible closure last year before Unit 5 voters approved a tax referendum.
Weikle said the imbalances are expected as the elementary schools function as “neighborhood schools.”
“Students who live in closer proximity to those elementary schools go there,” Weikle said. “Some of our elementary students have special programs, so that might pull some students from other parts of the community to those buildings.”
That in part also explains why elementary schools in the district have greater demographic disparities.
Cedar Ridge, which houses the district’s bilingual program, has a 47% Hispanic population. No other grade school is above 12% in Hispanic students in Unit 5.
Four elementary schools have a much larger share of students identified as Black or African American: Oakdale [44%]; Fox Creek [37%]; Fairview [34%]; and Sugar Creek [32%] top the list. All other grade schools are 17% or lower.
Benjamin Elementary has a 33% Asian student population, three times the district average of 11%.
Benjamin also has the lowest rate of free and reduced lunches at 10%. Five schools — Fox Creek [72%], Oakdale [69%], Cedar Ridge [67%], Sugar Creek [64%] and Fairview [60%] — have the highest rates of free and reduced lunches.
Cropper said the district should consider how to address these disparities after it completes a facilities study later this year. Weikle said the results are expected over the summer.
In another matter, the board elected three officers during Wednesday's meeting. Jeremy DeHaai will serve as president, Kentrica Coleman as vice president, and Alex Williams as secretary. All three were the only nominees for the positions.
