Yorkville school CFO warns Montgomery trustees of classroom strain as housing grows
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Summary
Yorkville School District officials told Montgomery trustees the district has tripled since 2002, faces full classrooms at Bristol Bay Elementary and projects roughly 800 new students over five years tied to recent and proposed housing growth, and asked to be included earlier in development planning.
Craig Wesley, assistant superintendent for business services and chief financial officer for Yorkville School District, told the Village of Montgomery Board on Monday that rapid housing growth is straining district facilities and that the district is seeking a proactive partnership with the village.
Wesley said Yorkville’s student population has grown from roughly 2,400 in 2002 to about 7,200 now, that Bristol Bay Elementary is “already maxed out,” and that a demographer’s analysis shows a single-family subdivision yields roughly 57 students per 100 homes while multifamily yields about 32 per 100. “So our in the next 5 years, we’re expecting ... 800 additional students,” Wesley said.
The district is proposing a March referendum that would fund a new elementary school, a new middle school and three additions at the high school if approved. Wesley said the district purchased roughly 110 acres south of Route 34 where the elementary and middle schools could be built if voters approve the plan.
Trustees pressed Wesley for Montgomery-specific figures — how many district students live in the village and what share of tax revenue Montgomery households contribute — and Wesley said he did not have that breakdown in the meeting but offered to share the data with village staff. He also described how Yorkville has raised its transition/impact fees in recent years to reflect rising construction and education costs.
Why it matters: New housing planned near Montgomery could generate a substantial number of schoolchildren, adding to already crowded elementary and middle schools and accelerating the timeline for construction and tax measures. Village trustees asked the district to provide the Montgomery-specific student and tax-share data Wesley offered.
What’s next: Wesley said the district will provide the requested local breakdowns to village staff; the board did not take formal action on the matter at the meeting.