Transferring Central Students to South? An Official Suggested It

HINSDALE, IL – A school board member wants to look at a policy change to let Hinsdale Central students transfer to the smaller Hinsdale South.

The enrollment at Central, with a wealthier student body, is nearly twice that of South's.

"I'm just going to say it. We have unequal enrollment in our district, and we are not going to be moving boundaries. That is just a fact," member Liz Mitha said at Thursday's board meeting. "I think if there is an opportunity for us to make it easy on families to make a slight change, it could make a big difference."

Mitha said Central, with its higher enrollment, may experience overcrowding, while some courses don't run at South because of its lower population. South families have long complained about the school's smaller course selection.

Mitha, who lives in the South zone, said a policy change would allow students to simply transfer from the higher-enrollment school to the lower-enrollment school. Such an adjustment could benefit both schools, she said.

In time, she said, enrollments could change, with such a policy allowing transfers to go the other way. In the mid-1990s, the two schools' populations were nearly the same, with Central slightly larger.

Now, the district's policy allows a student transfer with the superintendent's approval.

All seven board members are on record opposing an attendance boundary change between the schools. In any case, Central area residents would likely oppose such a move, fearing their property values would plunge if a zone change put them in South's area.

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

Earlier in Thursday's meeting, resident Adolph Galinski pushed a version of the idea of transferring students while objecting to a proposal to end South's orchestra courses. He suggested allowing South-residing students who want to take such courses to attend Central full time.