South Side School Site Plan and Lanphier Honor

The board reviews a bold plan to lease UIS land and seek a boundary change for a new South Side elementary, outlining tax-neutral impacts, partnerships, and attendance rules. Plus, Lanphier’s redesign earns the state’s top distinction and the board shares upcoming calendar dates. 6mins

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Original Meeting

Monday, December 1st, 2025
7221.0
Full Meeting on YouTube
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Brian Wojcicki
Springfield, Illinois
Government Relations & Legal Services Professional
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In This Video
  • Superintendent Gill reported that Lanphier High School’s redesign received the top Award of Distinction for excellence in educational environment design at the recent statewide school conference.
  • Superintendent Gill highlighted a pilot at Jefferson Middle School where students used virtual reality to explore healthcare careers and practice simulated medical tasks, with interest in expanding the initiative.
  • Superintendent Gill described meeting with Chatham’s school board and local partners to discuss acquiring a 29-acre site near UIS, Franklin Park, and Barker Park for a new South Side elementary school, noting the parcel’s current placement in the Chatham Glenwood district despite serving District 186 neighborhoods.
  • Superintendent Gill explained that UIS preferred a roughly 100-year land lease for the proposed South Side elementary school site and that the plan would require Ball Chatham’s board to detach about 29 acres of UIS-owned land into District 186.
  • Superintendent Gill outlined that leasing the tax-exempt UIS property would not affect tax revenues and highlighted mutual benefits including on-campus access for student teachers, addressing South Side facility needs via county sales tax, and strengthening regional collaboration.
  • Superintendent Gill clarified that the proposed South Side elementary would be operated by District 186 with existing attendance boundaries, would not be a lab school or accept out-of-district transfers or fee-based enrollment, and would continue to follow the district’s desegregation order.
  • Superintendent Gill summarized the request for Ball Chatham to approve a voluntary detachment of UIS-owned land, which would lead to an uncontested annexation petition to the Regional Superintendent, and noted the board’s response left the proposal on hold.
  • Following Fairview Elementary's school improvement plans presentation with Lanphier presenting in two weeks, a public hearing on tax levies with no public comments, and board approval of tax resolutions, Chair Austin announced the next regular meeting date of December 15th and outlined upcoming no-school days and teacher institute days for both the regular and balanced calendars.
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