year-round education

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is District 202 considering year round education?

Each year District 202 welcomes 2,400-2,500 new students to its learning community of what is presently 20,000 students at 20 campuses. Projections show the district serving 55,000 students in the next 15-20 years requiring the construction of 36 additional schools. Historically our community has rallied behind our students to approve the necessary referenda to accommodate our increasing enrollment. Knowing that it cannot continue to rely solely on the commitment of taxpayers to support our growth, the Board of Education believes it has the responsibility to research all possible potential solutions including year round education.

When will year round education be implemented?

No decision has been made as to whether or not year round education will be implemented. Therefore, there is no timetable for implementation. The study of the year round education concept by the community-based task force is still ongoing. Upon completion of the task force’s study the Board of Education and Administration will review their report to determine the next step.

I’ve heard that this is a done deal. Is that true?

No, year round education is not a done deal. In January 2003, the District 202 Board of Education formed a community-based task force to research the concept of year round education (YRE). This fact-finding committee has been studying the concept of YRE in order to bring a comprehensive report to the Board of Education. As part of the process, the task force has solicited input from community members, teachers, support staff and administrators. They have read literature on the topic and interviewed administrators, teachers and students who have been involved in YRE. Presently the task force is hosting three community town hall meetings in order to share its findings with the community and to hear input. Upon completion of the town meetings the task force will incorporate the feedback into a final report to the Board of Education.  The Board of Education and Administration will review the report to determine the next step.

How much has this study cost the district?

Other than some miscellaneous costs such as copies and videotapes, the entire effort has been done on a volunteer basis with no additional cost to the district.

Will year round education decrease my home value?

This is an issue that the task force has identified as a community concern. Except for the anecdotal evidence provided by various community members, the task force has not found any authoritative research addressing this issue. A study undertaken by a qualified real estate appraiser would be required to determine the impact of YRE on home values.

Will all of my children be on the same track?

That is an implementation issue that is beyond the scope of the task force. Assuming tracks are assigned based on subdivisions, then the answer is yes. Certain complications could arise however, if a child is in certain courses at the high school or if changes in attendance zone boundaries occur.

How much will I save on my property taxes if YRE is implemented?

Tax savings attributable to YRE on a per home basis are very difficult to determine and requires expertise beyond the capabilities of the task force. However, it follows that if less schools are ultimately constructed resulting in fewer schools in operation, the district will be spending less and therefore taxes on a YRE basis should be less than under a traditional calendar. How much less is unknown at this time.

Are there other ways to relieve overcrowding?

Yes, there are. YRE is one of three alternative scheduling options that can be used to address overcrowding. The other two options are split shifts and staggered or overlap shifts. These options, unlike YRE, do not change the traditional school calendar. Split shifts require that students attend the same school during two separate shifts. One starts in the morning and ends early afternoon when the second shift starts and continues until the late afternoon. Staggered or overlap shifts, which are generally used only at the high school level, involves one group of students starting early and leaving earlier while the second group starts later and leaves later. During the time when both groups are in school, the earlier group is scheduled for lunch periods to make room for the second group of students who are just beginning their school day.  As with YRE each of these alternatives creates its own issues with respect to daycare, extracurricular activities and transportation. District 202 has used both of these alternative schedules in the past. Following the tornado in 1990, the district used a split shift at the elementary level to house students until temporary classrooms were installed. The high schools have and will use the overlap schedule to relieve overcrowding until Plainfield North High School is built.

When will the Board of Education make a decision on YRE?

The Board’s first opportunity to determine the next step with respect to YRE is after it receives the final report from the task force which will probably be sometime in May. After the Board and Administration have had time to review the report and deliberate, the next step will be determined.             

How will YRE affect my child’s education?

The impact of YRE on student learning is the most important yet controversial and complex aspect of YRE. Our research indicates that it is difficult to isolate the impact of YRE on student learning based on other districts’ experiences with YRE because oftentimes other educational changes are implemented in conjunction with YRE. However, during the course of our study we did not uncover any significant detrimental effects of YRE on student learning. One of the primary benefits of YRE that is often cited is increased student retention due to shorter and more frequent breaks, especially at the lower grade levels. At the secondary level, we were unable to identify any high schools presently on a multi-track YRE schedule. It appears that the complexity of scheduling the variety and number of high school classes in a multi-track environment combined with the disruption to extra curricular activities poses much greater challenges for implementing multi-track YRE at the high school versus the middle school or elementary school.

Isn’t there something the school district can do to slow down the growth?

The explosive population growth experienced by District 202 is a direct result of the increase in affordable housing being constructed throughout the district’s 64 square mile area. An abundance of relatively inexpensive undeveloped land enables developers to build affordable houses. The proximity of these houses to the Chicago and suburban job market coupled with low mortgage rates makes this area very attractive to potential homebuyers many of whom are families with young children. As a school district we cannot control the growth, we can only try to manage it. The approval and annexation of subdivisions are the responsibility of the seven municipalities within District 202, with Plainfield and Joliet being the two largest.

Why doesn’t District 202 split into two smaller districts?

The desire to have two smaller school districts instead of one large district is understandable. However, the detachment of District 202 into two separate school districts is fraught with numerous complexities and it provides no discernable benefits to the learning community.  Two smaller school districts, which together encompass the same geographical area that is presently District 202, would not necessarily alleviate the growth for either district nor reduce the property tax burden. It has been suggested that District 202 detach itself from those areas with the greatest future enrollment growth. But that is very unlikely to occur, given the requirement that any detachment from District 202 would require a majority approval of the voters residing in both the detaching and the annexing school districts.  From an economic standpoint, the expenses for each of the two school districts could actually end up being more expensive on a per student basis than a single district due to the duplication of administrative functions and staff.  Other complications that would arise are determining the boundaries of the new school districts with respect to the equitable division of the commercial and residential tax base and the assignment of bonded indebtedness.  In addition, the detachment process itself is a very complicated, lengthy and costly legal process, which entails extensive public hearings and deliberations and requires a referendum. And it is not unusual for such proceedings to be subject to lawsuits.        

Can the developers who are building the subdivisions be charged to pay for the cost of new schools?

The construction of new schools requires voter approval of a referendum. Bonds are then sold to finance the construction. The bonds are repaid from the proceeds of a bond and interest tax levy. All property owners in the district pay the levy via local property taxes. Prior to new legislation being passed in Springfield in 2003 the only fee assessment allowed on new developments were site contributions, the use of which is limited to the acquisition of land for new schools. In 2003 new legislation allowed municipalities to impose school facility impact fees. As a result, District 202 along with other area school districts and municipalities recently developed a schedule of school facility impact fees, which have been adopted by the Village of Plainfield, the Village of Romeoville and the City of Joliet. These fees will apply to future annexations and will be used to help fund the construction of new schools. The developer, who initially pays for both the site contribution and school facility impact fees, passes along the cost to the homebuyer by including such fees in the price of the house. While these fees do not pay for the entire cost of constructing a school they are a step in the right direction. In addition, state construction grants also help offset some of the cost of new schools. District 202 was recently awarded $65 million of construction grants in connection with the $159 million building bond referendum to build seven schools, which was approved by voters in March of 2002.

Will there be poll of District 202 residents or a referendum with regards to year round education?

The answer to this question is for the Board of Education to determine in consultation with the Administration. Whether a comprehensive poll or survey is necessary or if a referendum is warranted are issues that the Board of Education may consider when its review the task force’s report.