This petition is in regard to keeping the students of Virginia Lake Elementary safe while walking to and from school. On April 13, 2022, the community was notified that the District 15 Administration made the decision to change Virginia Lake school to a tier 3 schedule. This means the start time would be 9:15 AM and dismissal would be 3:55 PM for the 2022/2023 school year.

The District 15 school board was notified of the change and agreed to it. This decision came without any consideration of impacted stakeholders such as: parents, local officials and law enforcement, teachers, and students.

When the District 15 Administration and School Board decided to move Virginia Lake from a tier 2 time to a tier 3 time, they heard concerns about safety during the morning hours. With Virginia Lake being on the tier 3 time they are taking the same safety concerns from the morning and putting them in the afternoon during dismissal. There are concerns that the afternoon safety will be much worse than the current morning safety concerns due to the increased traffic from Virginia Lake parents/caretakers, Palatine High School parents/caretakers and the high school students.

The change in schedule poses significant safety risks and will provide a significant impact upon the lives of many individuals.

Primarily, Virginia Lake's proximity to Palatine High School is the major safety concern given the dismissal times for both schools. We fear for not only the safety of Virginia Lake students and families, while walking home, but also the students and families of the Palatine High School while driving.

Making Virginia Lake a tier 1 school with a 7:35 AM start time and a 2:15 PM end time for the upcoming school year is the only way to ensure the safety of our students. These times for Virginia Lake will give the students ample time to arrive at school and be home from school and not have any safety concerns regarding the start and dismissal times at Palatine High School.

For these reasons stated above, we are calling on the District 15 School Board to change Virginia Lake Elementary School from a tier 3 school to a tier 1. By signing below, we are officially requesting the members of the School Board and Superintendent Heinz to move Virginia Lake to tier 1 in order to protect our children and their well-being.