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Parent urges Skokie 68 board not to consolidate Highland Elementary second‑grade classes
Summary
At the April 17 board meeting a Highland Elementary parent, Trisha Daniels, urged the board and superintendent to reconsider plans to merge three second‑grade homerooms into two, citing recent behavioral incidents and concerns that larger classes (up to 23 students) would degrade learning and safety.
At the April 17 Skokie SD 68 Board of Education meeting, parent Trisha Daniels urged the board and superintendent to reconsider a plan to combine three second‑grade homerooms at Highland Elementary into two sections next year. Daniels said the cohort includes children who spent early childhood masked during COVID and described incidents in the current grade that she said make larger class sizes harmful to learning.
Daniels described specific safety and behavioral problems in the grade and asked the district to treat students "as people, not as numbers." She urged the administration to weigh academic data, teacher input and classroom dynamics before increasing class sizes. "I'm asking the superintendent and board to support the most dynamic, the most important dynamic we can provide in our schools appropriate classroom sizes given the actual children who populate them not just the number of students on paper," Daniels said during public comment.
The board concluded the public comment period and moved to superintendent reports; the meeting record shows the district did not respond to individual public‑comment requests during that segment. Daniels asked the board to consider alternatives and to consult current and former teachers and relevant academic indicators before finalizing next year’s class assignments.
