BUILDING A BETTER DISTRICT

A Movement By Citizens  Demanding Transparency, Accountability, and Community Engagement for Central CUSD 301/Burlington in the State of Illinois.Building A Better District is a taxpayer-led movement and is not affiliated with, nor endorsed by, the Illinois State or Kane County Regional Board of Education, nor any individual school district, or administration/Board of Education. 

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Rohrsen Land Sold Back to Original Seller At A $3 Million Loss to the District

Updated 10/11/2024



In 2006, the D301 Board of Education purchased 135 acres of land on Rohrsen Road for the future expansion of the district.  A former member of that board stated the purchase was based upon data and recommendations compiled by Northern Illinois University at the request of the district.  As recently as 2016, former Superintendent Todd Stirn said the Rohrsen land could accommodate an elementary school, middle school, high school, and transportation center.

It's clear that the land on Rohrsen could sufficiently support an elementary school, a middle school, and a transportation center or even a single high school.  

Why did our district sell this land BACK to the ORIGINAL seller for a $3 million loss while simultaneously purchasing 300 acres for $5 million?


The $5 million dollar purchase for over 300 acres on Route 47 closed on February 9th, 2024.  

  • Why would our district approve this purchase when we owned 135 acres DEBT FREE?
  • The land on Rohrsen was purchased with the knowledge that a flood plain existed and plans were drafted that show the flood plain was not a problem.
  • Review the original plans for Rohrsen, including the summary statements about the floodplain on pages 19 and 90 (pages that discuss the flood plain are 19, 53, 90, 102, and 149).  Click on the image below.

Eriksson Engineering Flood Plain Exhibit - Oct. 2023

Gallifian Callahan Nelson Flood Plain Exhibit - 2007


Presentation by Eriksson Engineering - October 2023

In April 2023, the district placed a $195 million referendum to the public to build a new high school on the 135 acres located on Rohrsen Road.   In October 2023, 6 months AFTER the referendum vote took place, Mr. Glen Eriksson of Eriksson Engineering  spoke at the October Board of Education basically detailing that he believed the flood map was inaccurate and that Rohrsen had LESS flood plain than the maps outlined.   (Note: Eriksson Engineering is a reputable engineering firm with extensive experience...any issues with the sale of Rohrsen rest squarely on the shoulders of our Board of Education and District Administration.)

  • According to Mr. Eriksson, a minimum of $30,000 would need to be spent on a hydrologic study of the property in order to get the maps redrawn to ELIMINATE portions of the flood plain from the property (which would make even more of the land buildable). 
  • He estimated it would take approximately 1 year to complete.  
  • Instead of following through with the hydrologic study, the district immediately moved to purchase an additional 300+ acres of land off of Route 47 for the cost of $5 million (more than twice the size of Rohrsen).
  • The presence of flood zones at the Rohrsen Road property was well known to the district (as Dr. Mongan opens with the statement that the district has known it was there).

You can watch Mr. Ericksson speak at the October Board of Education meeting below.



QUESTIONS WE SHOULD ALL BE ASKING

6 Weeks Prior to this presentation (September 5, 2023), our Superintendent met unknown parties off-site at a local church to discuss the possibility of purchasing the land on Route 47.  The land on 47 was not listed for sale in any real estate system. No signs posted on the land.   One of the owners was not interested in selling.

So how and why did this deal happen?

  • Who set this meeting up?
  • Who brokered the deal?
  • Did someone with inside knowledge of the district's plans arrange this land deal?
  • Who did our Superintendent meet with off-site at a local church on September 5, 2023, and what, exactly, did they discuss?
  • Why didn't they meet at the district offices or at the farm site they were discussing?
  • Why did we purchase more than double the land needed for a high school? 

A net $8 million in taxpayer dollars deserves transparent answers to all of these questions.


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We are a local group dedicated to cultivating an empowered and engaged community of parents and taxpayers to build an environment of transparency, accountability, and communication within Central Community Unified District 301 (D301), representing the unified voice of the people for a successful and sustainable future.

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Building A Better District is a volunteer community group advocating for transparency, honesty, accountability, and community engagement from Central CUSD 301 in Burlington, IL.

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