UNION GROVE - It's been eight years since the last addition for educational space at Union Grove High School was completed. At the time enrollment was about 700 students. Today it is just less than 800 and the time has come to look at building and grounds needs again, district officials say.

With that, the high school board is starting to solicit ideas and concerns about what is needed at the school, which serves students from Union Grove and Yorkville, most of Raymond and part of Dover. Helping to analyze the needs will be Milwaukee-based architects and consultants Epstein-Uhen.

At a meeting set for Dec. 4, the firm will present its initial findings and opinions on the school's facilities, location and grounds. The meeting, to which municipal officials and those from the high school district's four independent feeder elementary districts have been invited, is set for 7 p.m. at the board offices at the high school, 3433 S. Colony Ave. The session is open to the public.

The main purpose of the meeting, according to high school Superintendent David Magar is to "start a dialogue about some very preliminary considerations" the high school board is looking at.

It's too soon to say when those discussions might lead to a building referendum, he said. Magar said he and his board members want planning for possible future school needs to be "a cooperative effort" among the public and local officials,

Local officials took a step in that direction at a meeting Thursday at the high school. Leaders from the high school, the Union Grove Elementary District and the Village of Union Grove met and vowed to keep in better communication about issues facing the three governments, particularly when it comes to development.

Village President Mike Aimone conceded the Village Board had not a good job with communicating plans for the proposed Canopy Hills development. That project, planned for west of Highway 45 behind St. Robert Bellarmine Catholic Church and Trinity Lutheran Church, is proposed to have 144 single-family homes and 66 condominium units. Prices are estimated to cost in the $500,000 range for houses and $300,000 for condos.

Aimone said the Village Board will work harder to listen to the concerns of school officials as plans advance for other developments, like a subdivision that is in the very preliminary planning stages north of the high school, east of Highway 45 and south of 58th Road.

"We didn't do that with Canopy Hills. We should have and we learned," Aimone said.

Participation in the planning process for future developments could help the school districts better prepare for their space needs and limitations and also perhaps address needs like space for athletic fields - an issue facing both the high school and village.

The districts might also offer placement of sidewalks and walking paths in new developments to help get students to school in safer fashion. The Union Grove elementary District is already working with the Safe Routes to School program, which ultimately could lead to grant money for school route safety infrastructure improvements, said Gary Damaschke, administrator of the elementary district.

A factor affecting enrollment at the high school is open enrollment. Earlier this week, Magar told The Journal Times that nearly 100 of his students are open-enrollment students from other school districts, most of them from Racine Unified.

Open enrollment is also a factor for some of the high school's feeder districts. Dave Alexander, administrator of the Yorkville Elementary District, has said his school gets lots of requests from families living in Unified, particularly as their children prepare for sixth grade. Yorkville has had to set limits on how many out-of-district students it can accommodate. Once an open enrollment student is accepted, a district is obligated to let that student finish their elementary or high school careers in the host district.

Previous UGHS Referendums

2000: $780,000 issue for bleachers, restroom and concession building and roof repairs.

1997: $6.9 million, gymnasium, performance center, classroom additions