St. Charles CUSD 303 board votes to shift multilingual model, approve smaller Richmond addition and retire Davis mobiles

ST. CHARLES, Ill. 97 The St. Charles CUSD 303 school board on Monday approved a revised plan to move the district away from its one-way dual-language program and toward an in-class transitional bilingual education (TBE) model and a collaborative TBE model, and rescinded an earlier plan for a six-classroom Richmond addition. The motion passed 6-1, with Board Member Mister Lackner voting no.

Board members and district staff said the change is intended to standardize curriculum and increase program supports while reducing reliance on temporary classrooms at Davis Elementary. Dr. Gordon, the district superintendent, told the board that the conference of staff and administrators believes the new model will better align instruction and assessment across schools.

The vote rescinded the earlier grade-level configuration that would have housed the dual-language program at Richmond and directed staff to implement an in-class and collaborative TBE model instead. The board91s revised plan also calls for retiring six mobile classrooms at Davis beginning with the 2025-26 school year and for a smaller set of facility improvements at Richmond to add flexible instructional and office space.

Why it matters: District administrators said the proposed models aim to put multilingual students and their teachers on the same curricular and assessment cycle used across the district92making it easier to plan, monitor and share supports. Parents and staff urged caution, saying changes risk uprooting students in the district91s Access program (a program that serves students with autism and other significant needs) and called for clearer timelines and guarantees before any additional moves.

District staff described the recommended models in detail. Dr. Tracy Taylor Moore said bilingual resource specialists in the collaborative model "would be acting and serving similarly to our current EL resource teachers with the addition of being bilingual certified to provide that native Spanish instruction to our students who would benefit from that who are, identified as full time TBE students." She added those specialists would co-plan and co-teach and provide small-group instruction both in Spanish and English as needed.

Administrators described monitoring and accountability plans. Staff said the district will use the WIDA ACCESS test benchmarks and district assessment data (iReady, Eureka Math Squared and Wonders) to track students. District staff told the board that math assessments run roughly every six weeks and Wonders literacy checks occur about every seven weeks; they also said the district will monitor former multilingual students for year 1 and year 2 after exit and expects spring and trimester checks to identify students who need additional support.

Facility and cost details: Amanda, a district facilities presenter, told the board the more-limited Richmond addition under consideration would be built to add flexible classroom/office space and small-group rooms. Using prior estimates scaled down for two classrooms plus interior work and site improvements, staff presented a total estimate of about $4,200,000 for that work and said the addition could be ready for the 2026-27 school year. The capital estimate in the presentation did not include some other planned capital work the district may bundle with the addition.

Finance staff said the updated per-pupil and total-cost calculations reflected the construction estimate, potential furniture purchases and the cost to remove the Davis mobile classrooms; they noted administrators allocated 25% of the construction cost to each of several program options because multiple schools would benefit from additional classroom capacity.

Parents and Access program concerns: Several parents and educators spoke during the public-comment period and during the multilingual discussion, urging the board to avoid further short-notice moves for students in the Access program. Mike Backer, identified as a parent, told trustees "This program's succeeding. This is a showcase program. It's working. Why are we fixing things that aren't broken?" Colleen Becker, a parent and educator, warned against "radical changes every year" and called for more stable, systemwide planning.

Christine Rush, another parent, told the board, "I feel sick to my stomach that our kids have been just put in terms of dollars," referencing concerns that program and facility questions are being framed primarily as budget items.

Board members and staff responses: Dr. Gordon told families that "No decision on ACCESS around a program placement has been made. We will continue to have those conversations," and he reminded the public that a follow-up meeting with Access families is scheduled for March 19. Administrators agreed to return to the board with additional scenarios and costs for Access placements at a business-services meeting on March 20.

Implementation and next steps: The board instructed administration to move forward with the revised multilingual recommendation and to return with additional detail on Access-program placement options, staffing impacts and any required construction timelines and costs. District staff also committed to more systematic monitoring of former multilingual students after exit, adding cohort tracking and more frequent grade-level monitoring for early readers.

Votes at a glance: - Motion to amend the grade-level configuration and transition from the one-way dual-language model to in-class and collaborative TBE models, discontinue use of six Davis mobile classrooms and rescind the prior plan for a six-classroom Richmond addition: Approved 6-1 (Mover: Mr. Kuchert; Second: Mr. McNally). Yes: Mr. Kuchert, Mr. Lentz, Mrs. McCabe, Mr. McNally, Mrs. Bell, Mrs. Fairgrief; No: Mr. Lackner. - Motion to adopt a resolution authorizing notice of non-reemployment for temporary licensed employees (personnel action): Approved 7-0 (mover/second not specified in the public transcript). - Consent agenda items 7a through 7ks: Approved 7-0.

What the district will report back: Administrators said they will provide: - Detailed scenarios for Access-program placements and any associated capital or staffing costs (requested for the March 20 business-services meeting). - A March 19 meeting with parents and staff focused on Access-program logistics and family concerns. - Continued, systematized monitoring plans for former multilingual students (year-1 and year-2 checks, cohort growth measures, and more frequent classroom-level checks for foundational reading skills).

The board91s action changes the district91s planned facility and program timeline and sets a path to phase the multilingual program model districtwide while staff finish planning for Access-program placement and any required facility changes.