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📸 Credit: Norton Creek Elementary on Facebook
The St. Charles school board spent much of its June 24 meeting reviewing a proposal to add classroom space at three elementary schools: Norton Creek, Corron, and Ferson Creek. The combined cost of the proposed project is estimated at $16.5 million to $21 million.
No vote was taken, but the discussion made clear the district believes all three buildings have run out of room to keep improvising.
Here's what to know:
Norton Creek’s capacity issues: This is the only D303 elementary school projected to exceed capacity from 2027/28 through 2030/31. The Charlestowne Mall redevelopment alone could add up to 450 housing units to the school's boundary, on top of growth already arriving from nearby apartments and subdivisions. Administrators say there's no room left to repurpose.
Corron’s programming squeeze: The school hosts the district's ACCESS specialized program across three dedicated classrooms, and its surrounding neighborhood produces 85 students per 100 homes, the highest yield rate of any D303 elementary school. Officials say the area feeding the school is also positioned to turn over to new student-producing families.
Ferson Creek restoration: Enrollment at Ferson Creek is actually projected to decline, but years of repurposing spaces has created serious gaps. For example, the LRC was split to create an art room, gifted math students meet in the teachers lounge, and band and orchestra were relocated to a storage room. The proposal aims to reclaim space that was given up.
Architects outlined a four-classroom addition at each school at $5.5 to $7 million per site. The board is also weighing a $23 million investment in career and technical education upgrades at both high schools as part of the same broader facility plan.
A straw poll and/or continued discussion on whether to bring the full funding package to voters as a referendum is expected at the July 13 board meeting.
Watch the full meeting recording.
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