Millburn High floated as idea

With an eye to possibly creating a simpler system, the concept of having Millburn Elementary District 24 getting into the high school business was floated at a special meeting Tuesday night.

Children who graduate from Millburn attend Warren Township High School District 121 in Gurnee, Antioch High School District 117 and Grayslake High School District 127. Millburn's boundaries include parts of Lindenhurst, Wadsworth and unincorporated Lake County.

Warren District 121 officials invited Millburn school board members to Tuesday's special joint session. The topic involved the idea of the creation of a Millburn unit district that would serve students from kindergarten through high school.

District 121 board President John Anderson said that with at least 6,000 undeveloped acres in Millburn's boundaries north of Gurnee, chances are a new high school will be needed one day. The question, he said, is whether the high school should be Warren's or as part of a new Millburn unit district.

Officials agreed to further research the concept and that a feasibility study should be pursued to determine if a unit district would make economic sense. State money might be available to help pay for the report.

"Before we get our hand forced in having to build a new school, we wanted to explore these possibilities with you as a board," Warren board member Charles Crowley Jr. told the Millburn contingent. "We're attempting to form a strategic plan."

Millburn Superintendent James Menzer said the public would have a voice if a new unit district were pursued. Referendums would have to be held in all affected districts, he said.

Knowing which of three public high school districts a Millburn student could attend isn't always easy, said Menzer.

"It's really convoluted," Menzer said. "I don't know how anybody understands it. I understand it because I've worked there 13 years."

At least 1,300 students attend kindergarten through eighth grade in Millburn's schools. District 24 has two buildings, Millburn Central School in Wadsworth and Millburn West in Lindenhurst. The district offices are in Wadsworth.

District 24's boundaries go east to the Des Plaines River and a little past Route 45 on the west. The district, which covers more than 15 square miles, also stretches north to Grass Lake Road and south toward Grand Avenue.