Faced with intense public dissatisfaction, Rockford School Board members have slammed the brakes on a proposal to create neighborhood elementary schools next year.
Remaining forums on the issue are canceled.
Board President Nancy Kalchbrenner announced at the start of the Rockford School Board meeting on Tuesday night that board members reached a consensus to hold off on implementation of neighborhood elementary schools for at least a year.
That doesn't mean the issue is over.
But it is delayed. Neighborhood elementary schools are not coming for next school year and that is good news, Barbour parent Vicki Tuschen said.
The neighborhood schools proposal would have meant a traumatic year for students across the Rockford School District: An estimated 9,400 students or about 70 percent of all elementary students would have had to switch to a new, "zoned" school next year.
It was rife with other problems, too. The proposal did not balance percentages of low-income students at schools in the district. It made significant changes to the educational program at many schools without much, if any, consideration as to whether those programs are effective.
And with little explanation, the plans called for closing schools such as Washington and Page Park, converting either Bloom or Spring Creek into a significantly changed language program home, and getting rid of Haskell Year-Round Academy's nontraditional school year calendar.
Haskell Principal Ann Rundall said the slowdown is welcome.
Still, some speakers encouraged the board to continue to study elementary school zones.
A real estate agent told board members that it's tough to sell a house in Rockford when parents cannot be assured where their child will attend school. And Rockford Area Economic Development Council President Janyce Fadden noted that industry leaders find the district's current school choice method for assigning students to school a barrier for attracting professionals to work here.
Staff writer Jeff Kolkey can be reached at 815-987-1374 or at jkolkey@rrstar.com.