Merchant v. Reg'l Bd. of Sch. Trs. of Lake Cnty.

• Decision Date: 30 September 2014
• Docket Number: No. 2–13–1277.,2–13–1277.
• Citation: 19 N.E.3d 688
• Parties: Ayaz MERCHANT, Charles T. Taylor, Cheryl D. Taylor, Elsie I. Dietz, Dorothy B. Taylor, Thomas F. Earth, Maria G. Earth, Anand K. Patel, Pinal Patel, and Dawn Dahl, as the Statutory “Committee of 10,” Petitioners–Appellees, v. REGIONAL BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES OF LAKE COUNTY, Illinois ; Allison Baker–Frank, Board President; Don Fontana, Trustee; Julie Gonka, Trustee; Larry McShane, Trustee; Barry J. Carrol, Trustee; Roy E. Lucke, Trustee; James C. Mitchell, Jr., Trustee; Roycealee J. Wood, ex officio Member, All in Their Official Capacities, Respondents (Woodland Community Consolidated School District 50, Oak Grove School District 68, Warren Township High School District 121, and Libertyville Community High School District 128, Respondents–Appellants).
• Court: United States Appellate Court of Illinois

19 N.E.3d 688

Ayaz MERCHANT, Charles T. Taylor, Cheryl D. Taylor, Elsie I. Dietz, Dorothy B. Taylor, Thomas F. Earth, Maria G. Earth, Anand K. Patel, Pinal Patel, and Dawn Dahl, as the Statutory “Committee of 10,” Petitioners–Appellees
v.
REGIONAL BOARD OF SCHOOL TRUSTEES OF LAKE COUNTY, Illinois ; Allison Baker–Frank, Board President; Don Fontana, Trustee; Julie Gonka, Trustee; Larry McShane, Trustee; Barry J. Carrol, Trustee; Roy E. Lucke, Trustee; James C. Mitchell, Jr., Trustee; Roycealee J. Wood, ex officio Member, All in Their Official Capacities, Respondents (Woodland Community Consolidated School District 50, Oak Grove School District 68, Warren Township High School District 121, and Libertyville Community High School District 128, Respondents–Appellants).

No. 2–13–1277.

Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District.

Sept. 30, 2014.

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A. Lynn Himes and Alan M. Mullins, both of Scariano, Himes & Petrarca, Chtrd., of Chicago, for appellants.

James P. Bartley and Jacob H. Karaca, both of Klein, Thorpe & Jenkins, Ltd., of Chicago, for appellees.

OPINION

Justice JORGENSEN delivered the judgment of the court, with opinion.

¶ 1 Petitioners, Ayaz Merchant, Charles T. Taylor, Cheryl D. Taylor, Elsie I. Dietz, Dorothy B. Taylor, Thomas F. Earth, Maria G. Earth, Anand K. Patel, Pinal Patel, and Dawn Dahl, as a “Committee of 10” pursuant to section 7–6(c) of the Illinois School Code (105 ILCS 5/7–6(c) (West 2012)), sought to detach their territory, commonly known as the Lancaster subdivision, from the boundaries of respondents Woodland Community Consolidated School District 50 (Woodland) and Warren Township High School District 121 (Warren) and annex it into the boundaries of respondents Oak Grove School District 68 (Oak Grove) and Libertyville Community High School District 128 (Libertyville). Pursuant to section 7–1 of the School Code (105 ILCS 5/7–1 (West 2012) ), petitioners filed a petition with respondent the Regional Board of School Trustees of Lake County (Regional Board or Board). The Regional Board conducted a hearing over five evenings.

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Woodland, Warren, Oak Grove, and Libertyville (school districts or districts) opposed the petition. The Regional Board denied the petition.

¶ 2 On administrative review, the trial court reversed the Regional Board's decision. The school districts appeal, arguing that the Regional Board correctly denied the petition. We affirm the trial court's order reversing the Regional Board's decision.

¶ 3 I. BACKGROUND

¶ 4 The Lancaster subdivision is located in the southeastern part of Warren Township and, although it has a Libertyville mailing address, is part of the City of Waukegan. Lancaster, which is triangular, is bounded on the east by the Tri–State Tollway (I–94) and on the west by O'Plaine Road. The southern boundary of the territory is the Warren Township boundary line, and on the other side of that line is the Regency Woods subdivision, which is located within the boundaries of Oak Grove and Libertyville.

¶ 5 Lancaster contains approximately 80 single-family homes. There are 95 children in the subdivision, with 24 attending kindergarten through eighth grade at the Woodland schools and 15 attending Warren Township High School (WHS).

¶ 6 Woodland has an enrollment of 6,713 students in four schools: primary (pre-kindergarten and kindergarten), elementary (grades one through three), intermediate (grades four and five), and middle (grades six through eight). Oak Grove has one school building (Oak Grove school), serving students in kindergarten through grade eight. Its student enrollment has declined from 1,081 in 2005 to 838 in 2012. WHS is a two-campus high school (O'Plaine for freshmen and sophomores and Almond for the older students) and has about 4,500 students. Libertyville High School's (LHS's) enrollment at its single campus is about 2,000 students.

¶ 7 On June 25, 2012, petitioners filed their petition seeking detachment from Woodland and Warren and annexation to Oak Grove and Libertyville, all in Lake County. 105 ILCS 5/7–1 (West 2012) (providing for alteration of school district boundaries lying entirely within one educational service region). The petition was signed by at least two-thirds of Lancaster's registered voters, and the signers were represented by petitioners.

¶ 8 The hearing on the petition was conducted before the Regional Board on October 1 and 30, November 13 and 26, and December 4, 2012. At the hearing, petitioners presented evidence on five issues: (1) whether there would be an educational advantage to the Lancaster students if they went to Oak Grove school and LHS; (2) travel distances and times from Lancaster to the desired schools; (3) whether Lancaster has a community of interest with the City of Libertyville; (4) the potential increase in Lancaster home values if the petition were granted; and (5) petitioners' school preferences. The school districts presented evidence on the first three issues and stipulated that there would be no financial detriment to any of the school districts if the petition were granted.

¶ 9 A. Educational Advantage

¶ 10 Petitioners presented Timothy F. Brown's testimony and report. Brown is chair of the department of education at Argosy University's Chicago campus and has a doctorate in secondary education and curriculum from Indiana University. He opined that the Lancaster students would receive a better education at Oak Grove school and LHS than at the Woodland schools and WHS. He based his opinion on “data the literature shows as being indicative

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of school quality: student mathematics achievement scores, student cohort size and student engagement.” Brown testified that studies have concluded that mathematics achievement is influenced more by teacher instruction than is achievement in other academic areas; in other words, mathematics achievement is not as influenced by socioeconomic conditions. He compared the percentages of students who over a four-year period met or exceeded state standards for mathematics at the Woodland schools and Oak Grove school, and he testified that Oak Grove's percentages were higher.

¶ 11 Brown further stated that studies of the connection of class and school size to student achievement have been inconclusive but that there is growing evidence that student cohort size (i.e., the number of students in the same grade housed in the same school) impacts student achievement. In elementary school, he noted, the primary relationship is between the teacher and the student and, thus, class size is very important. Cohort size becomes more important as students approach middle school, because the curriculum is departmentalized and students move about their schools in the course of the day. The larger the cohort, the less opportunity for students to engage with adults. Brown concluded that the cohorts for the Woodland schools and WHS were significantly larger than those for Oak Grove school and LHS.

¶ 12 Regarding student engagement (i.e., student involvement with adults and other students in the school, including academic, cocurricular, and extra classroom engagement), Brown opined that studies reflected that this factor predicts school safety, student achievement, and, possibly, postsecondary school success. He explained that there are three elements of student engagement: teacher experience (faculty stability and educational level and adult-to-child ratio), delinquent behavior, and parental involvement.

¶ 13 He testified that, at Oak Grove school and LHS, teachers have more teaching experience and a higher percentage of master's degrees and there are fewer students per adult than at Woodland and WHS. WHS has a higher chronic truancy rate (i.e., the percentage of the student body that has been absent from school for 10% or more of the time) than LHS, as reflected in the schools' state report cards. This is an indicator of lack of engagement. The four-year (2008 through 2011) average chronic truancy rate was 10.9% for WHS and 0.4% for LHS; the state average was 3.3%.

¶ 14 He opined that, based on the three indicators of school quality (math scores, cohort size, and student engagement), there would be “higher expectations for quality” at Oak Grove and LHS than at the Woodland schools and WHS. However, Brown also testified that petitioners were highly committed, which trumped all other indicators of student success. He noted that petitioners initiated the present (and one previous) detachment petition, and, in his report, he stated that petitioners “feel passionately” about their children's education and that parents “who choose the school for their children have an investment that is powerful.”

¶ 15 Brown further testified that most teachers earn their master's degrees by going to school at night during the school year and that this “creates an environment where they can be bifurcated in their responsibilities.” Thus, teachers who have already earned their master's degrees can give more attention to the school and their students.

¶ 16 On cross-examination, Brown explained that, in forming his opinions, he did not focus on “Adequate Yearly Progress

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(AYP)¹...