The 10-acre campus of Prairie Middle School in Barrington Unit District 220 has moved a little closer to the Village of Barrington.
Village trustees Monday night approved an agreement to annex the school property at 40 E. Dundee Road into the village. The pact also provides for the possibility of school expansion.
Included in the annexation agreement are provisions for building up to eight more classrooms and for allowing the school’s use for kindergarten through 9th grade. Neither option, however, is on the drawing boards, School Board President Kay Mayland stressed after the meeting.
“We just wanted some flexibility because things change all the time,” she said.
The school currently is used for grades 6 through 8 and enrolls approximately 800 students. But enrollments in the district have been steadily increasing over the last 10 years as homes are built, Mayland said.
“We’re one of the last suburbs of Chicago that has open land that can be developed,” she said.
The school board has been planning to request annexation of the Prairie campus into Barrington since before the middle school first opened its doors in September 1992, Mayland said.
The school property currently is located in unincorporated Cook County. By resting within the Barrington borders, the school could receive local police service instead of relying on the Cook County sheriff’s police for protection, officials said.
School officials also wanted to ensure that the middle school continues to receive favorable in-district rates on water and sewer services.
“If we didn’t annex, we would be paying a premium for getting it,” Mayland said.
Although the wording might still undergo minor changes, the annexation agreement will likely meet with approval at the school board’s Feb. 21 meeting, she said. The Village Board would then be ready to consider annexation and special-use ordinances at its Feb. 28 meeting.
