Schaumburg's Collins School may grow this summer

Schaumburg trustees on Tuesday will consider approval of a proposed two-story, four-classroom addition to Collins Elementary School on Summit Drive that would be the most significant upgrade to any of Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54's 28 buildings this summer.

The approximately $4 million project is intended to accommodate the enrollment increase that school's attendance area has experienced.

“The number of students at Collins continues to grow,” said Terri McHugh, executive director of community relations for District 54.

The current overcrowding has caused art and music class materials to be transported by mobile carts rather than allowing them to have designated spaces, officials said.

Other improvements to the district's schools this summer fall more into the category of routine maintenance, McHugh said.

The planned addition at the northeast corner of Collins School would increase the size of the currently 61,650-square-foot building by 6,400 square feet. The new construction is expected to closely match the design and materials of the existing building.

Though nearby residents called in questions regarding drainage and traffic patterns to the village's zoning board of appeals meeting last month, the village staff has no concerns or reservations about the addition, Community Development Director Julie Fitzgerald said.

District 54 Assistant Superintendent for Business Operations Ric King told the zoning board and residents at that time that improvements to drop-off procedures at the school have been made during the past year and a half and the addition is for the number of students already at Collins.

Zoning board members voted 7-0 to recommend the project. There was one member absent and one vacancy.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic has caused classroom instruction to be canceled for the rest of the school year, any summer construction work at Collins wouldn't be able to start earlier than normal, McHugh said.

That's because the final days of the scheduled year at all the district's schools have been reserved for staff members to gather their belongings, and those left behind by students.

Families will do drive-by pickups and drop off items they've had at home, such as library books, graduating eighth-graders' Chromebooks, and second-graders' iPads in preparation for their exchange for Chromebooks in August, McHugh said.