Opening of Schools Report Information Services October 15, 2007

Student Counts  The number of students housed for is 6,503 students.  There are 6,231 students in pre-primary (P) through grade 8, a decrease of three students from (6,234).  There are: 4,110 students in the elementary schools, 2,000 students in the middle schools, 72 students at Park School, 26 students at the Rice Education Center, and 295 students in the JEH Education Center.

Student Counts Continued  Table 1, Appendix A shows the number of housed students by demographic group (i.e., race/ethnicity and gender).  The overall ethnic distribution of students for is: 41% White, 34% Black, 16% Hispanic, 5% Asian, and the balance designated as Native American or multi- racial.  The shift in demographics is largely a result of: a decrease in the number of designated Black students enrolled and more families choosing multi-racial when completing registration. (The multi-racial category was eliminated as an option for a period of time)

Kindergarten Students Table 3, Appendix A shows kindergarten counts by school and race/ethnicity. There are 35 more kindergarten students enrolled for the school year than in The kindergarten enrollment was less than the projected by 20 students.

Low Income & F/R Lunch  Table 4, Appendix A shows there are 2,631 students identified as low income. Forty-percent of District 65 students are designated as low income.  As of the end of September, there are 2,096 students eligible for free lunch and 504 students are eligible for reduced lunch, for a total of 2600 students (40%).

Special Education & Bilingual Services  Table 5, Appendix A shows that the special education student enrollment (ages 3-14) decreased from 1056 in to 1031 students in by two percent.  Table 6, Appendix A shows bilingual enrollments and TWI English participation enrollments. As of September 28, 2007 there are 602 students K-8 who are English Language Learners (ELLs). An additional 136 ELL students are enrolled at the JEH Education Center.

School-Age Childcare  Table 8, Appendix A shows the school- age childcare enrollment as of October 5, A total of 398 students are served in the School-Age Childcare program.

Permissive Transfers & Magnet Schools  258 permissive transfer applications were submitted and 128 were approved. 267 students attend schools out of their attendance area on existing or newly approved permissive transfers.  273 magnet school applications were received. Sixty-six new students (56 elementary and 10 middle school students) were selected for Bessie Rhodes, and 86 new students (77 elementary and 9 middle school students) were selected for King Lab.

Magnet Programs  There were 42 applications submitted for the African-Centered Curriculum (ACC) Program at Oakton for kindergarten through third grade. 32 were approved.  There were 111 TWI – English kindergarten applications submitted. Currently there are 60 TWI- English and 60 TWI-Spanish kindergarteners.

Retentions  For the school year, there were 24 retentions in grades K-8.  This is a decrease from the year when 27 students (grades K-8) were retained.

Proof of Residency  Table 12, Appendix A shows the number of affidavits of residency by school as of September 28, affidavits were completed by parents and investigated by the truant officer. 333 students were approved to remain in the district and 5 students were denied enrollment.

Transportation  Table 13, Appendix A shows the number of students by school and ethnicity who are eligible to ride the bus and who are assigned a bus stop. (The table does not include special education students who have specific transportation needs outlined in their IEP.) 2,190 students are eligible for bus services 1,710 are assigned a bus stop.

Health Services  Illinois School Code mandates 90% compliance with health exam and immunization requirements for students. 98.2% of District 65 students were in full compliance with the state immunization and exam requirements.

Projections vs. Actual Enrollments  Enrollment projections are based on K-8 housing enrollments, excluding Park and Rice. Enrollments were projected to increase by 66 students (6098 to 6164) there was an actual increase of 12 students (6110). Error rate for projections was 0.9%.

Class Sizes  Table 16 also shows the average class sizes by school and grade.

Registration  For the fourth year, all students in the district were required to re- register with the district and to provide verification that they live within the district’s boundaries.  Parents and guardians are required to pay or make payment arrangements for district and school fees prior to their students attending school in the fall.  During the school year, a registration committee made up of central office staff, principals, secretaries, and a parent representative appointed by the PTA Council met monthly to review the registration processes. Recommendations from this committee were implemented during the kindergarten and summer registration, resulting in an improved registration process. This committee, in conjunction with the staff from the Business, Operations, and Information Services offices, will continue to review the registration procedures and accounting processes in preparation for the school year.

NCLB Public School Choice  In early August 2007, families of students at Chute school were notified that their children were eligible to transfer to other schools within the district in accordance with the No Child Left Behind guidelines. Eighteen applications were returned indicating a desire to transfer. Some families applying under school choice also completed a permissive transfer and/or magnet school application. Prior to the end of the 30-day choice period, 7 of the families accepted a permissive transfer and 1 family accepted an opening at a magnet school. Parent/guardians of the remaining 8 applicants were contacted at the end of the 30-day choice period to confirm that they still wanted their child to transfer. Five students transferred and 3 families chose to remain at Chute school.