School District U-46 officials have dubbed the huge relocation project they currently undertaking “Moving the U.”
“The transition of sixth grade to middle school is one important component of Moving the U, but it is only one part of a much larger effort,” said Lela Majstorovic, deputy superintendent of instruction.
The work is part of the district’s broader Unite U-46 plan, which aims to create equitable access to high-quality classrooms throughout the district by expanding preschool access, adjusting school boundaries, retiring aging buildings, renovating schools and constructing new campuses, Majstorovic said.
“The effort is designed to better align our facilities, programs and resources with student needs across the district while ensuring that all students have access to modern learning environments and educational opportunities close to home,” she said.
Project contractor Bruce Phelps says it will cost more than $426,000 and require the labor of 220 people — 113 of which are movers — to relocate equipment, furniture and other items to new locations by June 18 in advance of the 2026-27 school year’s start.
“Those items will move to other schools, and with respect to most of the sixth-grade curriculum, it will be retired as it is being replaced,” Phelps said. “The other curriculum, furniture and equipment will be redistributed throughout the district as needed, with some of the older items being retired.”
All told, the work includes 933 individual moves of 25,000 boxes and an estimated 75,000 pieces of furniture and/or equipment to and from 47 school buildings in 11 communities spread out over 90 miles, including Elgin, South Elgin, Bartlett, Hanover Park and Streamwood, he said.
Planning took three stages, he said. First, staff created a master move document that outlined what classrooms, equipment and curriculum were moving either internally within a building or to another school.
Next was creating instructions about what to pack, how to pack it and how to label boxes, furniture and other equipment, Phelps said.
“The third stage was the bid, conducted to contract with movers to move all classrooms on the master move file,” he said.
The district held several meetings with vendors to review the moving plans and to make sure their employees had been cleared to work on school district property before any physical moving was undertaken.
Classes don’t start until Aug. 27, but the goal is to have things done as early as possible so that there is plenty of time to do everything else that’s needed, including building maintenance, before the new school year starts, Phelps said.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
