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District 116 trying again for $29 million high school expansion

Round Lake Area Unit District 116 officials say they have improved communication with voters as part of a second attempt to gain permission to borrow $29 million for a high school expansion and renovation.

Those beefed-up communication efforts include spreading the word about the Nov. 4 referendum question at school open houses, creating literature on how the money would be spent and giving high school building tours.

“It was more of a matter of not reaching enough people the first time around,” school spokeswoman Heather Bennett said.

Last spring, voters rejected the borrowing question by an 800-657 vote. School board members agreed this summer to try again in November.

Round Lake High was built for 1,370 students, but it now houses about 2,100 teenagers, according to school figures. Students are on two daily schedules because of the space problems, officials said.

In addition, the school now has nine trailers holding a dozen portable classrooms serving 20 percent of the pupils at any given time. Superintendent Constance Collins said the cramped conditions are even affecting how physical education classes are delivered.

“We cannot get all of our students into the physical education spaces, which consist of two gymnasiums, so we have been creative and we've created a walking PE class, where we have students who walk either around the building outside or inside the building so they can get the PE credit that way,” Collins said.

School officials said the proposal would raise $29 million and restructure debt. They say it would stabilize the tax rate for 16 years, while debt would be extended by five years at a cost of about $3,600 more for an owner of a $100,000 house than if the current repayment schedule remains in place.

If the ballot question is rejected again, property owners would see the tax rate increase the next four years, then begin to decline.

Speculating on the March ballot-box loss, Bennett said a lack of communication appears to have been the problem, as opposed to outright rejection by residents. She said some parents have admitted they didn't know there was an election.

Although public resources can't be used to promote a “yes” vote, district officials have found more ways to get basic information to taxpayers. For example, the district has taken advantage of school open houses attended by parents for 2014-15 academic season to create awareness of the November referendum question.

“We took about 15 minutes of that open house time to share information, factual information about the referendum,” Bennett said. “To date, we've reached about 1,200 people through the school presentations and through our village board presentations and other community organization presentations.”

For those who want to see what Round Lake High looks like, tours have been offered on Friday mornings. Principal Donn Mendoza led the most recent tour two days ago, taking a group to the mobile classrooms and areas in the school's catacombs now used for teaching.

“We're using every space,” Mendoza said after the guests viewed students moving between classes in a jammed main corridor.

Under the proposal, the high school would receive 30 new classrooms, including four laboratories for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Plans also call for a new gymnasium to meet state physical education requirements, new student commons areas, improved building flow and upgraded technology and security.

An expansion would bring the high school's maximum capacity to 2,288 students and lead to removal of the portable classrooms and dual schedules, according to District 116. Construction would start in spring or fall 2015.

Opposition to the referendum question surfaced late in the first attempt in March. The Illinois branch of Americans for Prosperity, a taxpayer advocacy group, used a telephone bank to contact potential voters to encourage rejection of the measure.

School officials said they have not met with Americans for Prosperity representatives in regard to the Nov. 4 ballot request.

Speaking after the tour, Round Lake High graduate Joseph Moskaly said he believes the building proposal is warranted.

“They certainly need the space,” Moskaly said. “I mean, from the population they have here and what they're trying to do for the students, you've got to have the space. If you don't have the space, you can't expect the students to get out of the school what they need to get out of it for life.”

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  Students in a physics class last Friday at Round Lake High School. Officials say a proposal to borrow $29 million for a high school expansion and renovation would provide more classroom space for pupils. Bob Susnjara/bsusnjara@dailyherald.com
  Round Lake Area Unit District 116 wants voter permission to borrow $29 million for a high school expansion and renovation. Bob Susnjara/bsusnjara@dailyherald.com
  Round Lake Area Unit District 116 wants voter permission to borrow $29 million for a high school expansion and renovation. Voters will decide the request Nov. 4. Bob Susnjara/bsusnjara@dailyherald.com
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