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Will St. Charles get a Silver Glen Middle School?

A new, larger Thompson Middle School in St. Charles might not involve keeping any part of the existing school or even keeping the building at its current location. But those options are just part of the decisions school board members must make as the district marches toward a November tax increase request.

Despite facing possible multimillion-dollar losses in funding from the state, and declining enrollment, board members delayed the closure of any district schools last month. The delay will allow the board to explore closing Haines Middle School while expanding, renovating or building a new Thompson Middle School. The closure of Haines is expected to save the district about $2 million a year.

Any major changes to Thompson will cost money. The price tag, the district staff said, will almost certainly be more than the district can afford without a tax increase. But board members must spell out exactly what middle school changes they want before attaching a price tag to the November referendum.

There are several options on the table.

Board members could vote to expand and renovate the current Thompson Middle School building on 7th Street. They could decide to tear down the existing Thompson and build an entirely new version in the same location. Or, they could build a new Thompson on property the district owns on Silver Glen Road.

The Silver Glen Road move may have a couple advantages. For one, construction on the new school could occur without any disruption to students and staff at the current Thompson. The move would also free up the 7th Street location, near downtown St. Charles, for possible sale.

The downside to abandoning the 7th Street version of Thompson would be demolition costs of the old school. Superintendent Don Schlomann said he expects a demolition would cost north of $1 million.

"I need some help on these decisions," Schlomann said. "We have lots of options, too many. Community members are going to want to know if part of Thompson is salvaged or if all of Thompson is gone."

The community will have some input into that decision. Board members will first get a closer look at the price tags and logistics of the options in private meetings with architects. Then they will weigh-in on the plans during public meetings. Schlomann said he'd like to get the public process going in mid-March. A final decision is expected at the end or April or beginning of May.

That decision will then pair with the push toward the November tax increase question. The board must have the final wording in place by Aug. 22 to get a question on the ballot.

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