Dist. 200 wants opinions on facility projects, referendum
Residents of Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 are asked to participate in an online survey before Sept. 30 to offer their opinions on proposed school improvements and funding options for the work, including a tax-increase referendum.
Earlier this month, a letter was sent to all residents explaining the survey and how the board is considering $154 million worth of facility improvements. However, Superintendent Jeff Schuler stressed that if the board agrees to move forward with a proposal for the April 4 ballot, it wouldn't necessarily ask residents for the full amount.
"There still is work to be done," he said. "Our board of education felt it was very important to be honest with the community about what we're looking at. Certainly, we didn't want to not be transparent with the size of the need."
The survey - found on the district's homepage at www.cusd200.org or by visiting www.surveymonkey.com/r/2016District200CommunitySurvey - asks residents about their general perception of the district, their opinions about specific projects the board is considering as part of the district's master facility plan and their views on how that plan should be financed.
Currently, the master facility plan addresses six categories of needs:
• Early Learning Center - Meet the needs of all early learning programs and have them all in one building
• Elementary Schools - Reinforce secure entries at all buildings and renovate libraries
• High Schools - Replace roofs, renovate the technology lab at Wheaton North and the library at Wheaton Warrenville South
• Edison Middle School - Renovate science rooms and laboratory spaces, reconfigure library
• Franklin Middle School - Expand north classroom area, renovate remainder of building, replace roof and doors
• Monroe Middle School - Add new auditorium, replace roof, expand and renovate science rooms
All the projects will also include updates to the mechanical, plumbing, and in some cases, electrical systems at all the schools.
"The board is hoping to get additional data or feedback that helps them narrow or refine, if need be, their focus," Schuler said. "If they put a referendum question in front of the community they really want to understand how the community feels about the planned improvements and the strategy they're taking to implement them."
In October, the board will review the data gathered through the survey and phone interviews that were conducted with about 400 residents and discuss the findings. The finance committee will continue to look at other funding scenarios - such as the use of money the district already has, future operating and maintenance dollars or non-referendum bonds - and the facility committee will continue honing the projects.
If a referendum option is still on the table in a few weeks, community engagement sessions may be scheduled from October to December to further inform residents about the overall project focus. The board will need to vote on whether to put a referendum question on the ballot by its Jan. 11, 2017, meeting.