District, city strike redevelopment deal for vacated school sites; Hillcrest to relocate to Wilson building

District staff told a committee that the school district and the City of Kenosha have negotiated an agreement to transfer most of seven permanently vacated school properties to the city for redevelopment, with the city funding demolition and redevelopment and sharing net proceeds with the district on a 50/50 basis.

Pat Finamore, the district official leading the facilities discussion, said the city approved the redevelopment framework in October and the school board ratified it in January. He said the district chose to partner because many vacated school properties are small, older buildings in residential neighborhoods that would be difficult for the district to rezone and redevelop on its own. Under the agreement the city will pursue rezoning, TID (tax-increment financing) support where applicable and developer selection; the city will assume demolition and early project costs and return the cleared sites to the district or oversee developer work depending on the site.

Finamore said one transaction already completed was the September 2024 sale of the former Saint Thomas Aquinas Catholic church and school to a local provider, Beyond ABA, which the district sold after appraisal and market outreach. The district reported that the property brought a sale price close to consultant estimates; the buyer plans to use the building for autism-related services.

The district said the city will create or expand tax-increment districts for some sites (for example the McKinley/KTEC West area and the Washington site) to finance redevelopment. Finamore said the city's initial priority is the McKinley/KTEC West area, where single-family lots and a small neighborhood park are among likely uses. He said the city will release requests for proposals to demolition contractors and developers in coming weeks and that many projects could begin after property transfer dates around April 1, 2025, but a multi-step municipal process could delay some sites.

Hillcrest: district leaders said the Hillcrest special program will relocate into the former Wilson Elementary building. Staff said Wilson is larger (about 1.7 times Hillcrest's footprint), was built as a KUSD school, and already has updated boilers and other infrastructure projects paid for in recent years (including work funded by ESSER). District staff said they will reserve a modest amount of space at Wilson for district storage and will install protective films and wood panels where interior glass presents safety concerns. The district said Wilson will retain some rooms as storage for furniture and curricular materials and that staff have begun modest site and interior work to prepare the building for Hillcrest program needs.

Finamore said the district had intentionally avoided heavy capital investments in buildings planned for transfer. He and district staff asked the city to demolish and clear certain buildings before the district takes ownership; they said available district funds for short-term maintenance on vacated sites will reduce near-term carrying costs and feed back into the district budget after transfer.