Darien Hopeful: No To D86 Boundary Change
DARIEN, IL – A school board candidate from Darien is against changing the attendance boundary between Hinsdale South and Central high schools, saying it would cause “extreme upheaval.”
Hinsdale South’s enrollment is about half that of the wealthier Central. As a result, South’s course selection is more limited and scheduling conflicts are far more likely.
At Thursday’s Hinsdale High School District 86 board meeting, candidate Liz Mitha said students had been denied course opportunities at both South and Central. She said the community must find “creative ways” to solve that problem.
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But Mitha, who is running for the District 86 board in the April 1 election, shut the door on a boundary change. Shifting the line, some residents say, would equalize enrollments and course offerings.
“Families are looking for stability and opportunity, and it is the district’s job to provide this for our families,” said Mitha, a Cass School District 63 board member. “Changing boundaries would cause extreme upheaval for our students and their families, and it’s unnecessary.”
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The district’s documents show that course offerings are less extensive at the smaller South because many classes are canceled due to low enrollment.
Also, the district’s data indicates class scheduling conflicts are 11 times more likely at South – again, because of limited classes.
At the same meeting in which Mitha spoke, South’s student liaison, Uyen Millon, discussed course scheduling conflicts.
In a survey, Millon said, nearly two-thirds of students had such conflicts. About 40 percent of that group reported that their conflicts were never resolved.
“Respondents of the survey acknowledged that course scheduling conflicts are primarily driven by low enrollment in certain classes,” Millon said in her report. “(T)hese students do not wish to see any more classes to be removed at Hinsdale South.”
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The idea of a boundary change is considered politically toxic for a school board with a 5-2 Central zone majority. Residents on the Central side fear their home values would plunge if their properties shifted to the South zone.
At times, though, a board member here or there has noted the disparity. In 2022, then-board member Cynthia Hanson, who lives in the South zone, brought it up, saying her colleagues “danced around” the issue.
Before leaving the board in 2023, then-board President Erik Held, who did not seek re-election, said a boundary change should be on the table. He acknowledged it was a topic that “no one likes to ever talk about.”
“It cannot be ignored when you’re dealing with serious operational impact to students,” Held said.
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