Enrollment Figures Prompt Questions at District 86 Meeting

A seemingly routine report on enrollment numbers wound up generating an intense discussion at Monday night’s Hinsdale Township High School District 86 board meeting.

Superintendent Dr. Nicholas Wahl reported the district’s annual March Enrollment Tally showed an increase of 82 students at Hinsdale Central and a decrease of 107 at Hinsdale South.

“Hinsdale South, to be very candid, continues to be predictably unpredictable,” Wahl noted. “We had predicted South down about 48 students.”

Board Member Dianne Barrett said she was concerned about the drop in numbers at South and offered her own possible explanation, which she said was based on conversations with parents of students who attend the school.

“There is quite a lot of fighting going on in the building, almost on a daily or weekly basis,” she said.

Barrett added that the school also had on-going problems with illegal drug use.

“We might want to take a closer look at our security,” she said.

Board President Dennis Brennan said surveillance cameras should have picked up any altercations.

"Unless they're all fighting in the wash rooms," he said.

Wahl indicated he had not received any reports suggesting problems on the rise at the school.

“I don’t want to see a manufactured crisis at South,” he said. “I’m concerned that is something that would be said from the microphone.”

“I’m not making it up,” Barrett said.

“I’m just concerned to hear that,” Wahl said. “Obviously, safety is our primary concern.”

Reason for Hinsdale Central gain unclear

Wahl said the increase at Central also was unexpected, based on the number of students coming into the school from its elementary feeder districts. He said he suspected a shift from private to public schools might be largely responsible.

Barrett said there were “ways of getting around” the district’s residency requirements, suggesting that some of the increase might be due to non-resident students.

“It’s possible,” she said. “That’s why a lot of school districts hire private investigators.”

Wahl said the requirements the district has for providing proof of residency are stringent, including having to produce multiple utility bills.

“Do we have any homeless students?” Barrett asked.

“We have some, yes,” Wahl answered. “We do, by law, have to take homeless students. We’re fortunate we don’t have many.”

Wahl added that the district does investigate any reports of non-resident students.

“We’ll drill down to see if we have more private students coming to Central, as we surmise,” he concluded.

Wahl reported Hinsdale Central had an enrollment of 2,804 and Hinsdale South had 1,741 students, for a total of 4,545. The average class size at Central was 24.5 students, while at South the figure was 23.

Wahl said the enrollment changes at the two schools meant Central would need to add the equivalent of three full-time employees (FTE) to maintain that average, while South would require four less FTEs. He was quick to point out that retirements would take care of that, rather than cutting staff.

“We’re not looking at reductions of four bodies at Hinsdale South,” he said.