Dist. 15, Palatine Park District to meet next week about land for a new school

Representatives from Palatine Township Elementary District 15 will meet with Palatine Park District representatives next week to investigate whether Falcon Park could be a location for a new elementary school.

The two groups will meet in closed session.

Next week's meeting comes after a District 15 facilities plan committee in April recommended the district construct two new schools: a K-5 elementary school in the northeast corner of the district and a sixth- through eighth-grade middle school off Ela Road in Inverness. The new elementary school would serve 1,200 students, the facilities plan committee reported in April.

The committee also recommended the district get rid of the oldest building, Gray M. Sanborn Elementary School, and switch to a sixth- through eighth-grade middle school model.

At the May 11 board meeting, District 15 Superintendent Scott Thompson told the board the district was in preliminary discussion with the park district to build an elementary school in Falcon Park.

"And then we would turn over to them Sanborn School," Thompson said in May,

The district also is looking at one other property where an elementary school could be built, Thompson said Wednesday.

District 15 and the Palatine Park District are still waiting to hear the appraisal values of both properties, park district Executive Director Mike Clark said.

The park district group that will discuss the topic next week will include Clark, the park district commissioners and department heads.

District 15's proposal for two new schools would require voter approval. It is not yet clear when a referendum would be put to voters.