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The proposed changes in Elgin School District U46 elementary schools could eliminate the need for 28 of the district’s 36 functioning mobile classrooms, saving a pile of money in the process.

Chief Operating Officer Jeff King said building 10-classroom additions onto Highland and Coleman schools, adding six classrooms to Laurel Hill School and shifting attendance boundaries of about 19 of the 40 elementary schools would allow the district to stop using about 28 of the often unpopular “mobiles.”

Since each mobile costs about $8,500 a year to maintain, King said, that would save an estimated $238,000 per year. By contrast, the proposed building additions would set back district coffers by an estimated $9.3 million in one-time expense.

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