School Board Votes To Close Lincoln-Way North High School
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Leaders of the financially strapped Lincoln-Way School District 210 in Will County have voted to close Lincoln-Way North High School next year, due to lower than expected enrollment.
Now thousands of families are scrambling to figure out what's next.
The fact is the four high schools in District 210 have been bleeding money, and officials said they had no choice but to close one of them to help get their finances in order.
A packed school board meeting Thursday night saw the District 210 board vote 5-2 to close Lincoln-Way North. The reason for the closing is a stalled population explosion in Will County, due to the housing crisis of 2007 and the Great Recession it helped spawn.
Lincoln-Way North was built in 2007, two years after voters approved a referendum to spend $225 million to build two brand new schools.
Supt. Scott Tingley, who was not with the district then, said that decision was based on projections that enrollment would grow to 10,000 by now. Instead, the district has only 7,000 students.
"We were growing leaps and bounds. Will County was one of the fastest growing counties in the country, and then in 2007-2008, that all stopped," he said.
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With the district falling far short of its previous enrollment projections, it no longer has enough students to keep all four high schools open, because state aid has dried up.
"For every 1,000 students less than anticipated, that's $6 million of state aid [the district does not receive]," school board president Kevin Molloy said. "We were 2,000 students less than anticipated. That's $12 million of state aid."
With hundreds of parents, teachers, and students in the audience, the board wrestled with the idea of closing one of the four Lincoln-Way high schools.
Parents struggled with the decision to close Lincoln-Way North.
One man said he'd prefer to see the district do something else, but said he doesn't think they had much of a choice.
Liz Hudson, a 1986 graduate of Lincoln-Way Central, urged the district to stop betting on possible population growth, or potential state aid.
"Make a decision that will last. No more hedging. Make a commitment to stop tearing the community apart by moving us around. Make a commitment now, tonight," she said.
Molloy agreed the district needs a plan in place to eliminate its debt within two years.
Tingley said closing one of the four schools won't solve all the district's financial problems, but certainly will help.
Lincoln-Way North math teacher and football coach Nicholas Schaub said it's a shame the school must be closed.
"It's unfortunate, because this is a great school. It's a great community. It really is, and it's hard,"
Lincoln-Way North principal Mark Cohen said the community will be okay.
"It's not going to change their curriculum. It's not going to change their staff. It's not going to change all the kids that we have," he said.
Classes begin for Lincoln-Way North next week. The reassignment its students is expected to begin next year.
