Central-South Disparity In Courses Continues: District

HINSDALE, IL – By the latest official accounting, a disparity in courses still exists between Hinsdale Central and South high schools.

As before, South gets the short end of the stick.

This school year, 44 courses are running at Central, but not at South, according to Hinsdale High School District 86. And 10 South courses are not at Central.

At Thursday's school board meeting, member Bobby Fischer, who heads a new committee to analyze the disparity, presented the numbers. But he expressed reservations.

"I'm not certain about this data," he said. "The fact is, we need a data consultant to speak confidently. Based on all the data that we looked at, this is more or less where we stand."

He was referring to the controversy over data that the district released earlier this year. It was related to course scheduling conflicts, in which students must resort to their second choices.

Last spring, district officials presented the Availability and Opportunities Committee with course conflict numbers that they said showed the gap between the schools was largely wiped away.

After Patch pointed to the district's widely varying statistics, officials backed away from the numbers. And the board's president, Catherine Greenspon, accused administrators of manipulating the data.

South's enrollment is about half that of Central. That is blamed for South's higher course scheduling conflict rates and smaller course selection.

In his comments, Fischer said certain gaps can be explained by South's lower enrollment. A prime example, he said, was that Central offers more world language opportunities than South.

"That is an example that creates an opportunity disparity and something that we have to wrestle with," Fischer said.

Over the years, some South residents have suggested changing the attendance boundary between Central and South to equalize enrollments.

But Central residents oppose such a move, fearing that shifting the line would put them in South's zone. All seven board members, even the two from South's area, have agreed to take such a proposal off the table.

Until a few years ago, the district contained a buffer zone, where families could choose between Central and South. About 90 percent selected Central.

Soon, the district is hiring a data consultant.

"We need to get the data correct," Greenspon said. "We cannot continue to approve the program of studies without good data. The program of studies should be uniform."