Suburbs that feed into different school districts--can the town change districts?? (Aurora: houses, buyers) - Chicago Suburbs - Illinois (IL) - City-Data Forum

LMG1 · 10-13-2011, 10:23 PM

I was wondering can atown change your school district?? I am thinking in the cases where you buy a house in one section of a town where the town has 3-4 different school districts, for example Bolingbrook which has Bolingbrook Valley View Schools, Naperville 203 & 204 and Plainfield 202.

As an example we're looking at a house on the far North end of Bolingbrook, but it has Naperville 203 schools. Can this area ever be changed to Valley View schools because it's in Bolingbrook???

Does anyone have any info on this or know where to find this out? I called the 203 District office and they said this section of Bolingbrook has ALWAYS been 203 schools and they don't ever see it changing, but they cannot say "never say never"

chet everett · 10-14-2011, 09:02 AM

The process of changing what parts of town are in one school district falls under the category of "detachment and annexation". This is a COMPLEX time consuming process that is RARELY used and is only infrequently successful as MOST districts will not agree to any such change as the threat of upsetting long established boundaries and REVENUES SOURCES is too big a risk...

The DuPage Country Regional Board of School Trustees has to be petitioned for such a change. They have to have public hearings and weigh the potential for educational improvement against any negatives.

In the situation as descibed by the OP their is approximately ZERO chance that any sane trustee would think there is any concievable benefit to detaching student from 203, one of the MOST well regarded Unit Districts in the entire state, and re-annexing into any other district...

To give some idea of the kind of detachment / annextion that would pass muster consider one of the more recent petitions. Approximately 260 residents of subdivisions on the north edge of Oak Brook petitioned to be detached from Salt Creek Eleentary Distict 14 (which generally serves parts of Villa Park, Oakbrook Terrace and surrrounding areas) and be annexed into Butler District 53 which is smack in the middle of Oak Brook. The aging population of Oak Brook means that the small schools are under utilized. They do have outstanding results. The 260 residents only accounted for about 27 school age children -- lots of empty nesters. Those families also account for approximately $600K in annual property tax which sounds like a lot except for the fact that most of the property tax funds for Salt Creek School district is coming from the massive retail and office complexes around Oakbrook Center Mall and 22nd St, so the financial viability of the districts is not impacted...

Summary -- If detaching means leaving for better schools, with minimal number of students and tiny impact on revenue / per student then Trustees might entertain such a petition. Since these conditions are not likely similar to the situation in north Bolingbrook with regard to 203 I would not fear any such change as other than the most remote of bizzaro actions....

sgresident · 10-14-2011, 09:10 AM

A town or municipality cannot change school districts. School district boundaries are established by those districts. a municipality could ask for a change, but it would be highly unlikely that it would be changed.

LMG1 · 10-14-2011, 11:20 AM

Thank you both for putting my mind at ease--we just didn't want to purchase the house we fell in love with in Bolingbrook if the boundaries could change in the years to come --we looked at houses in Naperville too, but liked the house in BOlingbrook better and being its 203 schools want to put an offer in on it. Thanks again for your input

chet everett · 10-14-2011, 12:50 PM

Not a problem. I know exactly the area you are considering and it is a nice little pocket of well built homes with access to good schools. I suspect many people have worried about the Bolingbrook address but since the schools are 203 that really is what ought to count.

Good luck!

hotwingsmadison · 10-15-2011, 02:48 AM

I may be wrong, but wasn't there a big uproar about 5-10 years ago when sections of Batavia were rezoned to feed into the Aurora 129 school district vs. the much higher ranking 101 district? Also, didn't the East side of Algonquin get rezoned several years ago from Harry Jacobs HS to Dundee Crown HS (which again many folks saw as a big negative in terms of property values)? My point being it can happen. Unlikely, but boundaries can and do shift into other schools/districts.

chet everett · 10-15-2011, 06:59 AM

In IL these things are not handled as "zoning". As I demonstrated, they are are handled by the Regional School Trustees Board. The process is complex and involves petitions and hearings.

You may be confusing the redrawing of attendance boundaries, which happens inside school districts as there are shifts in population between schools. It is also possible that builders misrepresented some subdivisions as being entirely within one district where a new school was being built when in fact poet ins were served by a neighboring district. Any "uproar" would simply reflect on how little scrutiny buyers have for the tax body info that they are supplied..

pvande55 · 10-15-2011, 11:41 AM

Oak Brook is an extreme example, but many municipalities are divided into different school districts. It often takes years of courtroom battles and tons of legal fees to change them so there has to be a good reason.

aga412 · 10-16-2011, 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hotwingsmadison

I may be wrong, but wasn't there a big uproar about 5-10 years ago when sections of Batavia were rezoned to feed into the Aurora 129 school district vs. the much higher ranking 101 district? Also, didn't the East side of Algonquin get rezoned several years ago from Harry Jacobs HS to Dundee Crown HS (which again many folks saw as a big negative in terms of property values)? My point being it can happen. Unlikely, but boundaries can and do shift into other schools/districts.

Hmm, I don't think that anywhere in Batavia is part of West Aurora High School's district. I know Sugar Grove is, and the wealthier part of North Aurora that backs up to the far east side of Batavia is. However, upon looking at the map I see that a nicer part of Batavia on the far west side that is unincorporated is part of West Aurora's district (which is funny because I thought those houses were so far south that I thought that was Aurora anyway). Yet for some reason, Batavia annexes a bunch of Aurora that goes all the way out to the outlet mall for our district. In short, school district boundaries are just CRAZY!

hotwingsmadison · 10-16-2011, 06:06 PM

Thanks Aga412! Glad to know I wasn't completely losing it on the Batavia/Aurora one. What I meant to offer was redistricting is always a possible risk. Not changing school districts as I incorrectly mentioned (which as Chet nicely outlined which almost requires an act of God to accomplish)

If you are in a school district where all the schools perform at a very high level then even this is a minor concern on the remote chance it happens. However, if you are in a village/town where one HS performs better then the other, and has a better reputation, then it may something to consider in case the attendance lines ever get redrawn (as was the case in Algonquin).

But a very low chance of this ever occurring so I would think it would have almost no bearing on a decision to buy a house today - as long as it feeds into the specific schools that you want your children to attend.