Sandwich School District will purchase mobile units at Haines Middle School

ST. CHARLES – As Haines Middle School gets ready to close its doors, Sandwich Community Unit School District 430 will be purchasing the school's mobile classroom units.

At their May 13 board meeting, St. Charles District 303 School Board members unanimously voted to sell the three mobile classroom units to the district for $1 in exchange for the removal of the units. In 2016, the board approved a plan to upgrade Wredling Middle School, renovate Thompson Middle School and close Haines Middle School by fall 2019.

Sandwich School District has agreed to remove the mobiles at the cost of $179,000. The estimated cost to demolish the three mobile classrooms was $150,000. District officials said the mobile classroom units "have exceeded their useful life."

Sandwich Community Unit School District 430 had approached the district about removing the units and transporting them for use at Sandwich High School. Officials had said the district would save $2.4 million a year in operational costs by closing Haines and taxpayers would see a significant reduction in the district's portion of their property taxes because of the payoff of bonds in 2018.

Board members are studying four different options for the building, with a cost ranging from $3.7 to $4.7 million. The district's programming needs include finding space for the district's college and career center (which includes both the district's transition program and the NorthEast Academy); growing and expanding the community preschool program; creating professional learning spaces for staff, parent and community education; creating a district board room and having a unified department of instruction office along with a unified district administration office.

The St. Charles Park District continues to voice interest in using a portion of the campus for its programs, such as the school's gym.