District outlines school realignment plan and flags House Bill 96's effect on property sales

The Equitable Transparent Resource Management Committee heard a high-level briefing on the district's facility realignment June 11 and was told the board's initial steps include closing several older buildings and launching a neighborhood boundary process this summer.

Chairwoman Adair opened the meeting and said presentations would focus on items relevant to the committee's oversight role. District presenters said the system includes 112 buildings totaling about 8.3 million square feet, is built for roughly 60,000 students and currently serves about 47,000 — leaving excess and aging space in need of realignment.

"We clearly have more square footage than perhaps we need at this point in time," said one presenter, noting 66 buildings have not yet undergone major renovations and some date back more than a century.

Staff said the board's most immediate realignment actions target Broadley and Mhler, both described as older facilities scheduled to close at the end of the 25-26 school year, with students reassigned to renovated facilities in the following school year. The district plans a boundary process from August to October, using a contracted GIS vendor (Craropper) to produce interactive maps, hold public engagement sessions and convene a work group. Staff said families affected by boundary changes will get a preferential lottery and results by mid-March.

District staff emphasized keeping specialized programs close to students, saying "we want to serve kids either in their home school or as close to their home school as possible" when describing placements for special education and English learner services.

Treasurer's office staff and the committee discussed the Senate's version of House Bill 96, which the treasurer's representative said had just passed the Senate. The bill would require districts to offer unused or demolition-bound facilities first to community schools, chartered nonpublic schools and some educational service centers if demolition costs exceed $10,000, with limited exemptions for sites contiguous to active district parcels and for certain career-technical facilities. The representative said districts can appeal to the state director within 60 days if they believe extenuating circumstances apply.

Committee members asked whether buildings already approved for demolition would be affected. Staff said the bill would take effect 90 days after the governor's signature and that actions begun before its effective date would likely not be subject to the new offering requirement; they cautioned, however, that the bill's final conference language could change.

Committee members pressed staff on valuation and leasing mechanics under the bill; staff said the Senate reintroduced an "educational use" valuation standard that could lower appraised values and that public auction procedures could be required before a direct sale. They noted leasing terms (lease length, capital obligations) are not yet specified in the bill.

The committee asked staff to continue outreach and advocacy as the bill moves through Congress's state-level process and to ensure community engagement informs boundary decisions this summer and fall. The committee will return to detailed property-by-property work in the fall as realignment planning advances.

The next procedural step for the district is extensive public engagement on proposed boundary maps (Aug'Oct) followed by board decisions informed by the engagement work and any final legislative changes affecting property disposition.