District 112 Exploring Selling Unused Assets, Combining Schools

HIGHLAND PARK, IL — The North Shore School District 112 continues to seek community feedback about its plans for the future, including how to go about unloading unused school assets after closing two schools last year and vacating its Green Bay Road building next year. Superintendent Mike Lubelfeld convened an advisory committee that met for the first time last month to explore the long-term options for the district. This month, residents have been asked to engage in a online discussion of further potential consolidation of schools. The district will also be conducting a telephone survey to get further input toward the superintendent's recommendations to the school board.

"It's time for us to close the 'configuration and cuts' chapter of the district," Lubelfeld said, in an email to the District 112 community. He said the aim of the district is educational excellence, and the future school configuration would be determined by educational needs rather than costs. "As with any potential school configuration change, the attendance zone boundaries may shift as well," he wrote, noting the new committee was building upon several years' worth of findings from previous committees.

Lubelfeld's new committee had its first meeting July 28 and includes administrators, staff, the district architect and construction manager, as well as citizen representatives and the city manager.

A second community engagement using an online platform called "Thought Exchange" runs from Aug. 8 to 22, Lubelfeld explained. It will explore preliminary scenarios including a plan for reducing the district to seven, eight or nine schools. The eight-school model would close Sherwood school, while the seven-school plan would also combine Ravinia and Braeside.

"We are going to work within our financial means," Lubelfeld said in the email, promising further explanation at the Sept. 12 meeting of his Long-Range Planning Committee, which will meet again Sept. 24.

"We don't have enough money, but we don't have 'no money'... Some systems and structures are broken, but we're not broke," Lubelfeld said at the first committee meeting.

"The board has courageously acted to close two schools – not easy, very painful, we understand. And it'll take some time to heal because these are 150-year-old community schools," he said. "Nothing's whimsical. This is taken very seriously."

If vacant, the administrative offices and preschool at 1936 Green Bay Road, set to close next year, could fetch $5.2 million on the open market, according to a 2015 appraisal obtained by Pioneer Press. Lubelfeld suggested if the building was sold and redeveloped, it could provide a new revenue stream if property tax started being paid for the site.

The property could potentially be turned into more than 100 residential units, Highland Park News reported. Without changes to zoning requirements as part of a planned development, a new high-density multi-family development on the 3.5-acre property could be up to three stories.

District administrations estimated the Lincoln Elementary School and Elm Place Middle School locations – zoned for medium and moderate single-family homes, respectively – could sell for something in the ballpark of the $3.7 million appraised for Ravinia Elementary school in December 2014, but they plan to seek new appraisals this fall, according to Pioneer Press.

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Video: First meeting of North Shore School District 112 Superintedent's Long-Range Planning Committee, July 28, 2018