Administration recommends closing Red Oak Elementary to consolidate dual-language program

One of North Shore School District 112’s elementary dual-language school buildings will eventually close and consolidate with another dual-language school if School Board members vote later this month in favor of the district administration’s recommendation.

A “staggering decline in Spanish-speaking students” enrolled in dual-language classes at Red Oak and Oak Terrace elementary schools indicates the board should vote for a multi-phase plan to fully house the program in Oak Terrace starting in the 2027-2028 school year, said D112 Superintendent Dr. Michael Lubelfeld during a June 10 board meeting. 

The latest recommendation comes in light of feedback from local parents and students who oppose consolidation and think the administration should better support the longstanding dual-language program and after the board hired an outside consultant to evaluate the measure.

The board of education will vote on the program’s proposed consolidation at its next special meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. on June 26 at Northwood Middle School in Highland Park.

D112 Board Member Lori Fink broke from the administration and other board members on Tuesday by arguing that enrollment projections appear unreliable and that the recommendation represents a pivot from past administration communication on why closing Red Oak is necessary. 

“I cannot support a decision of this magnitude, one that disproportionately impacts our Spanish-speaking and our low-income families without a fully developed, transparent and community-informed plan,” Fink said. 

Lubelfeld outlined various recommendations informed by Dr. Sonia Soltero, the outside consultant the district hired to evaluate the program, that would accompany consolidation. 

These recommendations include creating a task force to “prioritize English learner needs” and address school climate after consolidation. Starting in October, the task force would meet monthly and consist of parents, teachers, board members and other school leaders. 

Falling enrollment

The superintendent also recommended hiring a third party to evaluate redesigning the dual-language program from a 50-50 model to 80% of instruction in Spanish and suggested that all dual-language kindergarten classes would enroll at Oak Terrace starting in the 2026-2027 school year. 

Total enrollment in D112’s dual-language program has dropped by 24% — or from 695 students to 523 — between the 2020-2021 and 2024-2025 school years, school data shows.

D112’s June data anticipates enrollment will continue to drop with a total of 509 dual-language students in the upcoming 2025-2026 school year. D112 projects a consolidated dual-language program would house 457 students at Oak Terrace in the 2027-2028 school year.

Enrollment dropped at Red Oak from 260 dual language students in 2020-2021 to 225 this last fall. Oak Terrace had 435 dual language students in the 2020-2021 school year and 298 this fall. 

When dual-language cohorts get too small, students can’t find peer groups and the program becomes unbalanced, D112 Board Vice President Melissa Itkin said on Tuesday. 

Even though there may be enough kids in the schools today, Itkin added that the administration should get ahead of ongoing enrollment decreases to create a stronger program in the future.

“To me it comes down to just the simple fact that we don’t have the (English-learner) enrollment to maintain two schools any longer, and we need to represent all of our constituents and our community and our fiduciary duty,” board member Lisa Hirsh said. 

“So I support the recommendation but I also want to support Lori, and I want you to know that I hear you and I hear the rest of the community that you represent and I want you to know you don’t represent just the people in this room but everybody in the community, so keep that in mind too.”

After Hirsh finished, several people in the board meeting’s audience spoke up and criticized her remarks.

During past meetings, parents argued dual-language enrollment declined because families are hesitant to enroll in a program that appears to lack committed support from the administration, and that the district has repeatedly underestimated enrollment by relying on capped pre-kindergarten numbers or information skewed by the pandemic. 

“If consolidation is moving forward, the bare minimum is to plan based on facts, not outdated or flawed projections,” said Lacey Kornick, a D112 parent, during the public comment portion of Tuesday’s meeting.

“That means enough classrooms, appropriate ratios for our highest-need students, enough teachers and investment because if the projections are wrong again, and they very well may be, the system will fail the students who rely on it most.”

“But more importantly, I ask this board to demand full transparency from management,” Kornick continued. “You deserve a complete, honest picture, not filtered or curated information meant to support a predetermined conclusion.”

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