School Board Members Predict Student Assignment Plan to Pass

Rockford, IL - "I know how it`s going to go," says School Board Member Mike Williams. "We`re going to battle it out in court." Williams opposes the school boundary zoning plan, but says he knows it will get approved. He says that will be a move back to racial segregation. "I feel that this plan that`s been put on the table is pretty obvious to most people in Rockford not to be fair," says Williams. "I think that sets us up for another discrimination lawsuit." "If they want to sue and found out what the courts have to say about it, I say go ahead and sue and let`s find out," says School Board Member Alice Saudargas. Saudargas says setting zones based on socio-economic status is not an effort to re-segregate the school district. "People are living where they choose to live, and that really is not an issue of segregation," says Saudargas. "All over the country re-segregation is taking place primarily because of where people choose to live." To increase diversity, the district wants to have the same number of low income students at each school. But thats not the case under the current plan. 44 percent of Guilford students would be from low income families, compared to 68 percent at East. To help balance those numbers, some board members want to re-draw the boundary lines. "Because of the imbalance in the high schools and middle schools between upper and lower income students, I think a little closer look needs to be taken at where these boundaries are drawn," says School Board Member Jay Nellis. Another suggestion is moving the bilingual program from East to Guilford. Other board members are concerned with grandfathering. "I personally want the kids to stay in the schools that they presently are in," says Saudargas. "I want them to finish their career." The School Board will meet in a special session on Wednesday with District 205 Administrators. School Board President Nancy Kalchbrenner, who supports the change from choice to zoning, says she wants to get issues raised by residents and board members clarified. Kalchbrenner says holding more public forums is a possibility. She says the question still remains if the board can delay the vote past January and still be on schedule to begin the zoning system in the 2007-2008 school year.