After 70 years as a school, Thomas Edison Primary will be no more as of June 2, 2026.

The Kankakee School Board passed a resolution Monday authorizing the permanent closure of the 1991 E. Maple St. site at the end of the 2025-26 school year.

Staff and students have already moved out of Edison following the board’s Dec. 30 vote for a temporary emergency school closure.

The emergency closure was in response to a Dec. 22 architectural assessment, which determined the building’s 1958 addition was not safe for occupancy.

The process of closing the school by the end of this school year — based on structural issues, district-wide declining enrollment, and budgetary constraints — had already been set in motion when the emergency closure was called.

Now that three public hearings have been held, a requirement of Illinois statute, the board moved ahead with the official, permanent closure.

“We’ll officially close that building,” Superintendent Teresa Lance said. “So 2026-27, there will be no Edison.”

Monday was the first day that Edison’s staff and 185 students attended their new schools, with third grade going to Kennedy Middle School and kindergarten, first and second grades going to Steuben Elementary School.

Teachers moved out of Edison and set up their new classrooms last week.

Lance said the settling of students into their new schools Monday morning went well.

“It was very seamless,” she said.

Dismissal time will need some tightening up, though, with an influx of kids now departing Kennedy and Steuben at the end of the day.

The rerouting of buses for Edison students was not an issue, Lance noted.

The relocated students will have to get used to where to go and which bus to board after school.

Asbestos abatement needed

While Edison is now empty, there will be some activity going on there soon.

The board approved two contracts Monday for asbestos abatement in the most structurally damaged areas of the 1958 addition.

Hygieneering, Inc. will provide project design, management and documentation services for $25,413, and Safe Environmental Corporation will conduct the abatement for $39,180.

The abatement will take place after a mandatory 10-day waiting period and take approximately 15-30 days to complete, according to board documents.

The ceiling over two classrooms must be removed to assess the extent of structural damage to the roof, exterior walls, and ceiling of the south and west walls of the most damaged areas of the addition.

The ceiling is made of plaster and is covered with a fire-retardant texture made from asbestos.

To remove the ceiling, this texture must first be abated following all relevant codes and laws.

“Before we decide what to do with the building, we need to absolutely make sure we have verified everything,” said Harrison Neal, assistant superintendent of business services.

Neal noted the project will be a limited abatement.

“Once we have seen for sure what’s up in there, we can come up with some recommendations, some options for the board to consider,” he said.

District 111 has not yet determined what it will do with the building in the future.

The Dec. 22 architectural assessment documented “serious structural issues,” including foundation movement, separation between walls and roof structure, uneven floor slabs, outward migration of exterior walls, and significant cracking of interior and exterior masonry surfaces, according to board documents.

The estimated minimum cost of structural repairs needed to make the addition safe for occupancy exceeds $575,000, not including asbestos abatement and other potential costs.

The total cost of work needed in the building was estimated at over $6 million.