Dist. 103 to unveil $13.3 million expansion plan

With Lincolnshire-Prairie View Elementary District 103's student enrollment on the rise, educators on Wednesday will unveil a $13.3 million expansion plan that includes shifting some students to a different campus.

Starting in the 2016-17 term, fifth-graders would attend Half Day School instead of Wright Junior High, Superintendent Scott Warren said. No other grades would change buildings.

To accommodate the roughly 200 fifth-graders, a 21,330-square-foot wing would be built at Half Day School.

Construction work also is planned for Sprague School, which houses early childhood, kindergarten, first grade and second grade classes. Officials are proposing an 11,000-square-foot addition there.

After the shift, Wright Junior High would serve sixth- through eighth-graders.

The plan will be formally presented and discussed Wednesday at Wright Junior High, 1370 N. Riverwoods Road, Lincolnshire. The meeting is set for 7 p.m.

Additional discussions are scheduled for Sept. 1 and Sept. 15 at Wright Junior High, also at 7 p.m. The school board could approve an action plan at the Sept. 15 meeting.

Districtwide enrollment was estimated at 1,693 this past spring. That's up from 1,622 in 2010, according to a district report.

Enrollment is expected to continue rising in the years to come. The district could have 1,733 students this fall and 1,832 by 2020, according to the report.

Working with architects, District 103 officials have been reviewing facility needs for three years.

Staffers, board members and residents began talking about options this past spring and developing an action plan. The next step is to refine the plan before the Sept. 15 vote, officials said.

The construction wouldn't require voter approval, Warren said. Officials will propose paying for the work with cash savings and loans.

If the plan progresses, construction could begin in spring 2016 and wrap up by the time classes start in the fall, Warren said.

"Ideally it would be (quick)," he said.

Reconfiguring the grade levels at each building long has been an option in District 103.

Warren said the plan to move fifth-grade classes to Half Day has received support in the community.

The move optimizes existing space and is cost effective, Warren said.

It also would put fifth-graders with younger students and give sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders their own building - which is a more common alignment in the region.

"It makes sense educationally to realign the grade levels this way," Warren said.