Parents, teachers, and other concerned citizens will be protesting at 5:30 tonight in front of the District 150 administration building on Wisconsin. They’ll be protesting against plans to close schools — especially a high school yet to be named — in order to plug the district’s budget gap. Also scheduled tonight is a public hearing on the district’s plans to issue $38 million in bonds. A revised estimate by the district indicates that this bond issuance will raise property taxes 23 cents (down from 25 cents in an earlier estimate) per $100 equalized assessed valuation.

District 150 Superintendent Ken Hinton was on WTVP’s “At Issue” Thursday night (replayed Sunday afternoon) along with the superintendent of Normal District 5. A few comments I found most interesting:

• Hinton stated that he’s been looking at reducing administrative staff “all along,” and that he’s planning to eliminate vice principals. Then he made some equivocal comment that he might not be able to do that this year because of school closures increasing the enrollment at remaining schools.
• Hinton said that, contrary to popular belief, the district is not top-heavy with administrators, and that he hopes that any administrative positions eliminated now will just be temporary — i.e., that they’ll be able to add those positions back eventually.
• While he declined to get more specific, Hinton said that “the two schools will be combined.” So, as predicted, it sounds like Manual is safe from closure, and that the district is still looking to combine Central and Woodruff. It’s just a question of which building will house them.
• Hinton also said they are looking at establishing an alternative school, but didn’t give any specifics other than this one would be bigger than ones they’ve had in the past.
• Hinton said the new Glen Oak campus is “on the small side” — only 12 acres, whereas the Harrison school campus is 22 acres. When H Wayne Wilson asked him if that was kind of big, Hinton responded, “that’s what they all should be.” He said the research shows that “the outdoors” is important to education — that it increases test scores and makes kids less aggressive. I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s worth repeating: Sterling Middle School has a 26-acre campus — larger than even the new Harrison School campus — yet their test scores are abysmal, and the school was the site of a brutal beating of a boy on the basketball court in 2006. There is no evidence that increased acreage improves student achievement; that theory has been debunked many times, yet Hinton still clings to it, citing district consultant Dr. Judy Helm as his only source.

On a side note, I wish WTVP would put the latest “At Issue” programs up on its website. The last one they have up is from February. I’d like to watch the show again, since I missed the beginning of it both times it aired.