The Examiner U-46 News Feed

District U-46 pondering purchase of land parcels

By Seth Hancock
  As enrollment continues to decline, School District U-46 is considering purchasing two properties to build more schools.
  The Board of Education voted 7-0 to approve two letters of intent (LOI) to purchase parcels of property at its meeting on Monday, July 17. Both are in Elgin.
  Included is 12.3 acres of undeveloped land off of Rohrssen Road which is adjacent to Hilltop Elementary School. The other property is land, between 5.4 and 5.9 acres of land, off of Center Street that’s currently defined “as improved property in the form of roughly 592 parking spaces,” the LOI states.
  The values of the properties were not presented nor discussed by the board.
  No decision on purchase is being made with the approval of the LOIs. Both state: “Both parties acknowledge that this letter constitutes a nonbinding letter of intent and that neither party shall be bound legally to the purchase and sale of the property until the execution and delivery of a formal Purchase and Sale Agreement by both parties.”
  The LOIs provide a 60-day due diligence period allowing U-46 to inspect the properties and an option to extend a second 60-day period. The LOIs state that closing is to “occur on or about thirty (30) days after the expiration of the due diligence period.”
  Ann Williams, deputy superintendent of operations, said the purchase would be “for future consideration for building new schools.”
  Both LOIs claim, in describing the district, that U-46 is “serving over 40,000 children,” but that has not been the case since 2015. Last October, the district’s enrollment figures showed total enrollment at 35,338 (a 2.1 percent drop from 36,107 in the 2021-2022 school year).
  The 2022-2023 school year was the eighth straight year of spending increases with enrollment declines. Spending has increased 62 percent, under the 2022-2023 budget, and enrollment declined 13.5 percent since 2012.
  There were no questions from the board.