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Prairie Hill annexation choice due
By Hillary Gavan
Daily News staff writer
New school would go into South Beloit
The Prairie Hill School Board will vote on whether to annex 30 acres at the site of its new school to South Beloit at its upcoming meeting set for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 26.
Construction is under way for the 80,000-square-foot school located on Prairie Hill Road just east of Interstate 90.
Because the soil won't support a septic system at the site, Prairie Hill School needs to connect to the South Beloit sewer system. If it annexes to South Beloit, the district will pay a reduced sewer connection fee of $140,000. If the school does not annex, the fee for connection would be about $220,000. Also, the regular sewer rate for the school district would be $2.25 per 750 gallons if the district annexed and $4.50 per 750 gallons if it did not annex.
South Beloit Mayor Randy Kirichkow said South Beloit High School has about 350 students and the sewer bill is about $100 a month.
For Prairie Hill Superintendent Ted Rehl, the decision is a financial one. Not annexing to South Beloit will cost double the money. As the district goes deeper into the project, Rehl said any money saved will be a huge asset.
There has been a lot of controversy about whether to annex to South Beloit. The school originally wanted to maintain its independence, but because of the poor soil it had to consider annexation.
Last year, Roscoe approached the district about annexation, offering to pay for water service if the district annexed to the village. The deal, however, required an adjacent landowner to also annex to Roscoe. Although there was interest in annexing to Roscoe, the land owner decided not to annex to the village and the deal fell through.
A landowner to the north of the new Prairie Hill School site recently annexed to South Beloit.
“Now we are contiguous with South Beloit. It is just a matter of time before we would be annexed by South Beloit anyway,” Rehl said.
The city also would offer police and fire protection as well as snow removal services if the school annexed to the city.
The city already has four school districts whose boundaries extend into the city - South Beloit, Hononegah, Rockton Grade School and Prairie Hill.
Kirichkow also pointed out that if the school district did annex it would not change the school district boundaries. Students would still go to the same schools as they do now.
Prairie Hill School has 709 students and eight mobile classrooms. Students come from Roscoe Township, South Beloit and unincorporated parts of Winnebago County. Projections indicate the school district will grow by about 20 percent a year.
Construction at the new school started in April. The $13.9 million project will be LEED certified, a environmentally friendly building certification. Because the building is a LEED project, it will qualify for more than $200,000 in grant funding.
The new school will house fifth through eighth grades and the existing school will be for kindergarten through fourth grades. The district is also considering what to name the new school. Those who have recommendations can contact the district at 815-389-2791.
The Prairie Hill School Board will vote on whether to annex 30 acres at the site of its new school to South Beloit at its upcoming meeting set for 6:30 p.m. Aug. 26.
Construction is under way for the 80,000-square-foot school located on Prairie Hill Road just east of Interstate 90.
Because the soil won't support a septic system at the site, Prairie Hill School needs to connect to the South Beloit sewer system. If it annexes to South Beloit, the district will pay a reduced sewer connection fee of $140,000. If the school does not annex, the fee for connection would be about $220,000. Also, the regular sewer rate for the school district would be $2.25 per 750 gallons if the district annexed and $4.50 per 750 gallons if it did not annex.
South Beloit Mayor Randy Kirichkow said South Beloit High School has about 350 students and the sewer bill is about $100 a month.
For Prairie Hill Superintendent Ted Rehl, the decision is a financial one. Not annexing to South Beloit will cost double the money. As the district goes deeper into the project, Rehl said any money saved will be a huge asset.
There has been a lot of controversy about whether to annex to South Beloit. The school originally wanted to maintain its independence, but because of the poor soil it had to consider annexation.
Last year, Roscoe approached the district about annexation, offering to pay for water service if the district annexed to the village. The deal, however, required an adjacent landowner to also annex to Roscoe. Although there was interest in annexing to Roscoe, the land owner decided not to annex to the village and the deal fell through.
A landowner to the north of the new Prairie Hill School site recently annexed to South Beloit.
“Now we are contiguous with South Beloit. It is just a matter of time before we would be annexed by South Beloit anyway,” Rehl said.
The city also would offer police and fire protection as well as snow removal services if the school annexed to the city.
The city already has four school districts whose boundaries extend into the city - South Beloit, Hononegah, Rockton Grade School and Prairie Hill.
Kirichkow also pointed out that if the school district did annex it would not change the school district boundaries. Students would still go to the same schools as they do now.
Prairie Hill School has 709 students and eight mobile classrooms. Students come from Roscoe Township, South Beloit and unincorporated parts of Winnebago County. Projections indicate the school district will grow by about 20 percent a year.
Construction at the new school started in April. The $13.9 million project will be LEED certified, a environmentally friendly building certification. Because the building is a LEED project, it will qualify for more than $200,000 in grant funding.
The new school will house fifth through eighth grades and the existing school will be for kindergarten through fourth grades. The district is also considering what to name the new school. Those who have recommendations can contact the district at 815-389-2791.
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