URBANA – A committee with parent representatives will help decide what criteria the Urbana school district should use when it goes about redistricting the boundaries for its elementary schools.

The Urbana school board talked Tuesday about how to proceed with redistricting the boundaries of its elementary schools. The district's administration recommended hiring a consultant to provide options for redistricting.

The district plans to adjust the boundaries to better balance enrollment in its elementary schools, as well as the number of low-income students in each school.

But some board members questioned whether the district needed to hire a consultant. It had a demographic study done last year that projected enrollments over the next 10 years.

Board member Ruth Ann Fisher said she wanted parents to be involved, "hands-on," in the process.

"I don't want somebody from Timbuktu coming in and telling me what to do with my neighborhood," Fisher said. "I live here. Students and parents live here."

The last time the district adjusted its boundaries, the work was done internally by an administrator, said board President John Dimit. He was concerned with the costs of hiring a consultant.

Assistant Superintendent Don Owen said the administration recommended a consultant because that person would have a greater level of sophistication concerning demographic issues and would bring more objectivity to presenting options and responding to concerns from community members.

Owen said the guidelines the district used before in redistricting included minimizing disruption for students and families, maintaining neighborhood schools and improving the socio-economic balance in the schools.

Dimit said the criteria should also include keeping physical neighborhoods together, with children living in them at the same school, and minimizing busing.

The process could include looking at the feasibility of offering a balanced calendar schedule at an elementary school and whether grade level centers – three K-2 buildings and three 3-5 buildings – should be an option.

The district had to add a teacher's aide to several elementary classrooms this fall because of the number of students in the classroom, said Owen. And Prairie Elementary School is adding a kindergarten classroom.

Owen said the enrollment numbers at the elementary schools are slightly above demographic predictions for the school year.

School administrators granted fewer petitions this year from students wanting to attend a school other than the one in whose boundary area the student resides, because of class sizes, Owen said.

He also said several programs in the district, including the bilingual program at Leal Elementary School and some special education programs, are much larger than they were in 2002, the last time the elementary school boundaries were adjusted.

School districts should look at adjusting school boundaries about every five years, Owen said. The last two redistricting processes for the Urbana school district were in 2002 and 1990, he said.

Owen said the redistricting might also give the district a framework to review attendance boundaries and demographics on a more regular basis.

In other business Tuesday, the board reviewed the 2010-11 budgets for the district and for the adult education program.

The district's budget shows revenue of about $76 million and expenditures of nearly $69.9 million. Those figures include about $1.6 million to be paid by Carle hospital. The district will hold that money in an escrow fund until a case regarding Carle's tax-exempt status is complete.

The revenue figure also includes $2.7 million the district expects to receive in sales tax revenue this year and $16.6 million in bonds it will issue for building projects. The district won't spend all the sales tax money and bond money in the current fiscal year, which is why – along with the Carle money – the budget figures show a surplus, said Business Director Carol Baker.

The board will vote on that budget and the $1.47 million adult education budget at its Sept. 21 meeting.