Gurnee District 56 will decide Wed. whether to seek $28.5 million

Gurnee Elementary District 56 board members on Wednesday are to decide whether to seek voter approval for borrowing about $28.5 million to build a new school.

District 56 board members will hold the special meeting at 7 p.m. in the administrative office section of Gurnee Grade School, 900 Kilbourne Road. The borrowing question would be on the November ballot.

Officials say it no longer makes sense to operate flood-prone Gurnee Grade, which is near the Des Plaines River in the village. Gurnee Grade serves children in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Under the plan, Gurnee Grade would be replaced by a new building for grades three through five on a 75-acre site the district owns in Wadsworth. The school would accommodate about 600 pupils north of Wadsworth and Delany roads for the budgeted $28.5 million.

District 56 officials say property taxes would not increase if they obtain the $28.5 million loan. They say about $15 million in debt would be retired by 2014, with only the new loan to repay.

Additional financial information is expected to emerge if the borrowing question makes the November ballot.

O'Plaine Elementary School adjacent to Gurnee village hall would be reconfigured to serve kindergarten through eighth grade if the new structure is built in Wadsworth.