St. Charles School Board to Vote on School Closure Options Monday

ST. CHARLES, IL --The St. Charles District 303 school board is poised in the next week to vote on whether to close between one to three St. Charles schools to save money and deal with declining enrollment.

On Monday, the school board added a fifth potential option to four options currently on the table to address the issues within the school district. That option would include closing Haines Middle School and adding a wing to Thompson Middle School, according to the Daily Herald. The option addresses the school board’s strong desire not to add sixth grade students to any of the current K-5 elementary schools, according to the Kane County Chronicle.

The closure of Haines would happen gradually over three years, the Daily Herald reports.

Other options that have been discussed in the past included doing nothing, closing both Lincoln and Wasco schools, closing Haines Middle School and keeping sixth grade students at the elementary schools and closing Wasco, Haines and Lincoln and put a $45 million building referendum question on the ballot.

Board members also appear to be against closing Lincoln Elementary School, according to the Kane County Chronicle. A majority of board members said they could be in favor of closing Wasco if a financial need was there and the low enrollment made it more efficient to do so, the Daily Herald reports.

The District 303 school board is expected to vote on the controversial facility options on Monday, Jan. 11, during a board meeting in the Wredling Middle School cafeteria. That meeting gets underway at 7 p.m.

Read more on the Daily Herald and the Kane County Chronicle.