By the Numbers: How Much Money Will be Saved From Closing Mary Drew?

Patch lays out the item-by-item estimates generated by Summit Hill school district officials.

At the tail end of Wednesday night's Summit Hill School District 161 board meeting, Dean Gerdes, the district's finance director, went over the amount D161 is estimated to save after closing Mary Drew Elementary School, totaling it at $670,808. READ: Find Out About the New School Boundaries for District The estimates were based on this year's budget, and this financial model will be used to build next year's budget, Gerdes said. But Gerdes didn't go over the line-item estimates, because the meeting was moving into its fifth hour, and limited his presentation to questions from the board members. Patch was able to get a breakdown of the estimates the district has worked out so far. After Gerdes' short presentation, board member Sean William …

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Joe Vince

6:33 pm on Friday, March 16, 2012

@Was There: I asked. Dean Gerdes would've gone over the items if it wasn't so late by the time it came up on the agenda. Joe Vince Local Editor, Frankfort   more ›

Board Approves New School Boundaries for D161

With the closing of Mary Drew Elementary School next year, the Summit Hill school board gave the OK to a new map that distributes the students to maximize the remaining schools.

The Summit Hill School District 161 board unveiled and approved new boundaries Wednesday, outlining which schools students will attend in a post-Mary Drew world.  The new boundary lines were drawn with an eye to distributing students so the district could maximize capacity in all of its schools, said Supt. Barb Rains, who presented the new map to the new superintendent's advisory committee earlier this month before bringing it before the board to vote on at Wednesday night's meeting.  The new district map was needed after the board voted to close Mary Drew Elementary School as part of a three-year budget-cutting plan developed to eliminate a more than $3 million deficit.  READ: Board Votes Again to Close Mary Drew Using the above map, the …

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D161 Parents Attend Fundraiser to Support Mary Drew School

In a symbolic gesture, community members from the Summit Hill school district came out Thursday to the Cooks Night Off event run by the elementary's school community organization.

The last time Summit Hill School District 161 parents came to show support for Mary Drew Elementary School--at Tuesday's special meeting where the board of education voted to close the school starting in 2012-13--the atmosphere was loud, heated and contentious. That was in stark contrast to the mood at Thursday's Cooks Night Off at Wendy's in Tinley Park where district parents and community members came together for the Mary Drew School Community Organization fundraiser. READ: Board Votes Again; Mary Drew to Close Next School Year The event, which is held the first Thursday of every month, raises money for the Mary Drew SCO, which uses it to fund student parties, assemblies and other activities. The wrinkle this Thursday was that many of …

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LIVE BLOG: D161 Board Votes Again; Mary Drew School to Close in 2012-13

It was standing-room only at the Summit Hill school district offices as the board re-voted to close the elementary, 4-3, during a special meeting Tuesday. Read the transcript of the live blog for the details.

In a 4-3 vote, the board of education for Summit Hill School District 161 approved Tuesday at a special meeting the closing of Mary Drew Elementary School this fall despite the public outcry from close to 250 parents and community members to keep it open and calls for board President Mary Kenny to resign. Kenny, along with board Vice President Joy Murphy, board Secretary Denise Lenz and board member Denise Wildeveld, voted to close Mary Drew. Board members George Perros, Sean William Doyle and Stacey Borgens voted to keep the school opening.  Throughout the meeting, members of the public voiced their displeasure, yelling and shouting at board members. On more than one occassion, Kenny used her gavel to try to bring order back to the …

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Rose C

10:26 pm on Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Metro, I agree this district has gone through many things - good and bad - over the past 30 years. But I have to agree with taxpayer, you need to check your facts before you attack Mrs. Kenny. She has spent years fighting for the entire district in situations that were not popular and when in the minority - she was completely ignored many times. I'm not setting her up for saint hood however, …   more ›

Editor's Notebook

POLL: Should Parents Try to Stop Mary Drew Closure in the 11th Hour?

Tuesday's re-vote over closing the elementary school has given some parents and residents cause to try to make a final attempt to save Mary Drew. But is that the right thing to do? Tell us what you think.

Tuesday's re-vote by the Summit Hill School District 161 board to close Mary Drew Elementary School for the 2012-13 school year might be a formality. But it hasn't stopped parents from trying to persuade the board to reverse course. The board scheduled a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the district offices to vote again on the closing after a community member filed a grievance Friday that the board didn't sufficiently notify the public that it would be taking action to close Mary Drew at its Feb. 22 meeting. The closing was included under the "Planning for the Future" agenda item at last week's meeting, where board members voted to shutter the school next school year. READ: Board Will Vote Again to Close Mary Drew Parents and other…

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Tracy

10:32 pm on Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Well, reality is it was never off the table, and neither is a second school, or programs or busing or activities... it's just begining. I'm on the blogfs and pod casts when not at meetings, feel free to sit by me at the next one. Still doesn't change that the board snuck it on the agenda, vote wise, and that guilt was acknowledged.   more ›

Community, Parents Respond to Mary Drew's Closing

Find out what Summit Hill D161 residents had to say about the board's decision to shutter the school.

The closing of Mary Drew Elementary School had parents and residents of Summit Hill School District 161 reacted Thursday to the news. Patch spoke with some of them and compiled comments from the story about the board's decision to shutter the school. Tony Pietrzak, two children attending Mary Drew Tony Pietrzak said Thursday he was organizing a group of parents that would petition the board to reconsider its decision on cutting full-day kindergarten, as well as hiring an outside consulting firm to develop the best financial plan for dealing with the district's $3 million projected deficit over three years. Pietrzak, who has two children that attend Mary Drew, also applied for the open board position recently filled by Denise Wildeveld. …

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The Buck Stops Here: Board Ready to Decide D161 Budget Fate

The Summit Hill school board will meet Saturday morning for a workshop to discuss the financial direction the district needs to take to help eliminate a $2.5 million budget deficit for the 2012-13 school year.

The anticipation has been building since late last year for Summit Hill School District 161 parents: What will the district do about a $2.5 million deficit for the 2012-13 school year? It looks like that question will be answered at a school board workshop at 8:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, at the district's administration offices. What do you need to know going into the meeting? Patch breaks it down for you. This is where the board will discuss three proposals to deal with next school year's shortfall. The intent is to set up a three-year financial strategy for the district going forward. Yes. The workshop is open to the public. In fact, Frankfort Patch local editor Joe Vince will be live blogging from the meeting to allow readers to follow …

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taxpayer

2:29 pm on Friday, February 3, 2012

HOLY COW.............you just uttered my words verbatim. I whole heartedly agree. People need to realize that just because we close a school or 2, that doesn't mean all teachers and suport staff will be let go. Those teachers most likely will follow the students to surrounding schools. We need these programs for the students. We also need full time kindergarten. Again, these little 5 year olds …   more ›

New Cost-Cutting Model Could Close Mary Drew School: Analysis

D161 Superintendent Barb Rains unveiled a new proposal Monday that could eliminate the district's 2012-13 deficit and lay the foundation for a three-year money-saving plan. We break it down for you.

In the quest to make up for a 2012-13 budget deficit of about $2.5 million, Superintendent Barb Rains introduced a new money-saving option to Summit Hill School District 161 board members and the public for the first time at a packed meeting Monday. And like previous suggested proposals, this one--if selected--would close a school, in this case Mary Drew Elementary School. The new model, which Rains developed, would take advantage of enrollment projections that put Mary Drew at 359 students below capacity in 2012-13. Students in grades 1-4 would be redistributed to the other district schools without dramatically increasing class sizes, according to the plan. Closing Mary Drew would create an immediate savings of about $350,000 from the …

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taxpayer

5:50 pm on Wednesday, January 25, 2012

@Concerned Parent. Your comment was just plain out RUDE. First of all, you insuating where I am from just proves your ignorance toward taxpayers in 161. If you must know, I have lived in the square for over 15 years, quite frankly, I live by the fire station. In no way what so ever did I attack you, Mary Drew school, Aubury Hills school or Frankfort Square school. I do have my facts straight. I …   more ›

D161 Budget-Tightening Could Include Closing a School

Arbury Hills School or Frankfort Square School could be shut down under a proposal to restructure the district. But that's just one idea officials are considering in order to cut costs.

As a way to cover about a $2 million budget shortfall, Summit Hill School District 161 officials are considering a variety of cost-cutting measures, including entertaining the idea of closing either Arbury Hills School or Frankfort Square School. But interim Superintendent Barb Rains said Thursday no decisions have been made, and any move to eliminate financial and educational inefficiencies in the district are only at the discussion level at this point. More research needs to be done before detailed proposals are created, and January would be the soonest that would happen, she added. The full board also would need to discuss and vote on the matter before any action is taken, Rains said. READ: Proposed Tax Levy for D161 Sees Slight …

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1Mom

9:23 am on Friday, January 13, 2012

Well said.   more ›