Harlem UD 122 board narrows reconfiguration choices, reissues notice to close two schools

The Harlem UD 122 board advanced two school‑reconfiguration options for final consideration and confirmed plans to reissue public notice to close two schools, officials said.

Superintendent Terrell Yarbrough and district staff presented four revised options intended to address enrollment declines, program space constraints and a multi‑million dollar projected budget shortfall. The options ranged from keeping kindergarten in a single district‑wide site with neighborhood 1–5 schools to four variants of grade‑band and “sister school” pairings intended to reduce student transitions and improve operational efficiency.

Yarbrough told the board the revised plans reflect extensive community feedback about transitions and neighborhood identity and that staff tried to preserve specialized programming such as STP, OLA, ALP, fine arts and ESL while addressing capacity limits.

Public commenter Beth Weinmiller warned the board that steep cuts to pre‑K could harm kindergarten readiness and push families toward homeschooling or private schools, saying, “reducing pre‑K kids is going to have an adverse effect on starting kindergarten.”

Board members debated trade‑offs between neighborhood continuity and the cost savings of grade banding. Board member comments showed a split: some members emphasized fiscal necessity and cited projected savings tied to banding models, while others stressed community concern about transitions and bus times. Several board members noted the administration’s capacity models and class‑size projections during the exchange.

After individual preferences were recorded during an informal poll, President Sterling announced the board’s consensus to advance scenarios 1 and 3 to the next meeting for final action. He also secured consensus to reissue the required public‑hearing notice for closing Olsen Park and Maple (both appear as closures in every option presented) so the district can proceed with the statutory hearing process.

The superintendent and staff said the materials, including maps and enrollment projections, will be posted on the district website and that staff will prepare the detailed operational and transportation implications for the Tuesday meeting. No formal binding vote on a final configuration was recorded at this session; the board’s action was a direction to narrow options for the next meeting and to move forward with the school‑closure notice process.

The education committee adjourned after completing the agenda. The board intends to consider final action on the narrowed options at its next scheduled meeting.