Summer break is work time in Dist. 211
There is no summer vacation for crews working on completing building improvements in Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 before the new school year starts.
A revamped special education center, pool renovations and library upgrades are among the improvements either underway or recently completed.
District 211 is in the second year of a five-year capital improvement plan designed to support educational and extracurricular programming, provide needed facility improvements and improve operational efficiency. The plan is updated annually. Staff provided an update on the plan to the school board earlier this year.
Projects are picked on criteria that reflect:
• Safety, health and security needs.
• Legal mandates.
• Classroom space and functionality.
• Equity among all five high schools.
• Renovation needs of existing buildings.
• Planning for future program needs.
Total life safety project costs identified in a 2010 survey were approximately $26 million. Approximately $13.5 million in projects remain to be completed over the next three fiscal years. Almost enough money remains from $16 million in life safety bond issued in 2012 and 2013 to pay for projects through the upcoming school year.
Current projects include roof repair and replacement, door and window replacements, and domestic water piping replacement at Hoffman Estates High School and heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment replacement at Conant High School.
For other categories of improvements, the school board has built reserves that are being tapped while maintaining fund balances adequate for funding uncertainties.
Here's a look at a few of the projects:
• Pool renovation. The pool at Conant High School was completed this spring. Construction at Fremd and Hoffman Estates has begun and the renovations at Palatine and Schaumburg high schools are scheduled to begin during the second semester of the coming school year. Students and community groups occupy the pools from 5:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. each day.
• Media center upgrades. As learning migrates away from hardcover books and toward use of electronic media, libraries are working to digitalize media content and create space where students can work collaboratively in a Learning Commons, in a change from past emphasis on individualized study areas.
The Schaumburg High School Media Center was completed earlier this year, Conant is undergoing similar renovations scheduled for completion in August, and Palatine and Fremd will get Learning Commons areas during the 2015-2016 school year. Hoffman Estates was partially upgraded a few years ago and will receive final upgrades in the 2016-2017 school year.
• Higgins Education Center remodel for alternative education programs. The district is renovating a building adjacent to Hoffman Estates High School to house three alternative programs: District Academy-South in Streamwood, the Adult Transition Program-South at Hoffman Estates High School and Miner School in Arlington Heights. The new location will offer greater efficiency through shared administrative support and more efficient transportation services.
• Other improvements. The district also is working on athletic field renovations, auditorium lighting and sound upgrades, wireless network improvements and transformation of a traditional classroom in each high school into a business "think tank" to support a planned entrepreneurship program known as the business incubator class.