Appeal Filed to Keep Oak Brook Students in Salt Creek District

Salt Creek School Elementary District 48 School Board and DuPage High School District 88 have formally filed an appeal to reverse a decision of the Regional Board of School Trustees.

The Regional Board said June 3 that it would from District 48 and High School District 88, and annex it to Butler Elementary District 53 in Oak Brook and Hinsdale High School District 86, which operates high schools in Hinsdale and Darien.

The appeal, filed in the 18th District Circuit Court, claimes the Regional Board decision was not in accord with laws or evidence and would adversely affect Districts 48 and 88 and its educational programs. 

“District 48 strongly believes the ruling by the Regional Board of School Trustees was in error, and the results would potentially be devastating to the school district,” District 48 Superintendent John Correll said in a press release.

District 48 would lose 12 students in the de-annexation, along with $450,000 in property tax revenue annually. Correll said this would necessitate severe program cuts for District 48.

District 88 Superintendent Steve Humphrey said his district would lose more than $600,000.

During the appeal process, the Regional Board’s ruling is stayed, which means that the students will remain in Districts 48 and 88. Students in District 48 live in portions of Elmhurst, Villa Park, Oak Brook and Oakbrook Terrace. 

District 48 operates three schools: Salt Creek Primary School in Elmhurst is home to about 150 students in preschool, kindergarten and first grade. Stella May Swartz School in Oakbrook Terrace has about 130 students in second, third and fourth grades; and Albright Middle School enrolls about 230 students in fifth through eighth grades in Villa Park.