School Board needs to fix overcrowding problem now
I do not envy the District 181 School Board’s current situation. I think board members have listened all year to various viewpoints, and now it is time to act.

Please do not appoint yet another task force to reconsider all of the options that have already examined. I know, initially, redistricting was an option of last resort, but we are now there. The board was elected to make decisions about our district which are in the best interests of the district and the community as a whole. I understand redistricting any school will cause anger among some parents who had hoped that their children could attend CHMS. But the board would be doing a disservice to the community and the staff and students at CHMS if you put off this decision further.

I believe redistricting is the only option to alleviate the overcrowding. It is also not a particularly expensive option, and I think that finances should be considered here as well. Transferring extra lockers to Hinsdale Middle School to accommodate a larger student body will be much cheaper than leasing portables for CHMS and paying for the structural improvements to the peat bog that would be required to support them on any parking lot at the school.

The only question then remaining is where to redistrict. I have a fifth-grader at Walker. Of course, I would love to see my child go to CHMS where her sister currently attends. It is a wonderful school with great staff, and I am sure she would get a great education. I am also sure that the same is true of HMS.

We are not dealing here with a decision which would mean some children would have to go to an inferior school. What we are dealing with is what is the most logical place to draw the boundaries. I think the answer is clear. It makes sense to have the current fifth-graders at The Lane School attend HMS.

Please, board members, do not let the fear of incurring the wrath of a minority of your constituents stop you from doing the logical, fiscally responsible, community friendly thing. Decide now to redistrict The Lane school.
Catherine Ashdown, Clarendon Hills

Former CHMS student weighs in on overcrowding
As I’m certain you are aware, Clarendon Hills Middle School is facing an overcrowding situation. One of the suggestions is to redistrict some of the elementary schools to go to Hinsdale Middle School, but there seems to be a lot of resistance to this idea. The main resistance comes from parents who had a student at CHMS; they seem to place a value on the legacy there.

I personally attended CHMS, starting in its second year of operation if I am not in error. This gives me a unique perspective on a few things:

1. Volunteers will not be enough to relieve overcrowding. Redistricting for the 2008-09 school year is necessary for the safety and effective education.

2. CHMS was crowded when I attended, seven years ago. It was a very poor plan. Even as a sixth-grader, I could tell that there was not room for expansion — it was a lovely design, but really impractical.

3. The conditions of the ground that make it impractical to add on mobiles should have been evident to everyone from the get-go. I could have told you that from any time we had to run the mile; the ground was always squishy.

4. Legacy, which many parents are so concerned about, is not that important. I went through without an older sibling before me, and my fifth-grade sister does not care about my legacy there. It seems to be mostly a parental concern rather than one of the students.

5. The kids want to be with their friends. Volunteering won’t work, but redistricting will. No one is going to get enough momentum to voluntarily move a group of friends to HMS, so no one will volunteer. Redistricting keeps friends together.
Scott Istvan, Hinsdale Central High School student