Lake Zurich school board will put $77.6 million bond question to voters
After months of engaging community members on what facility improvements they would like to see, the Lake Zurich Unit District 95 school board will ask voters to approve borrowing $77.6 million next year to fund the work.
The board voted Thursday to put a referendum question on the March 20 primary ballot asking for support for a new bond sale to replace the current $65 million bond that was approved through referendum in 2000 and is set to expire.
Superintendent Kaine Osburn said in a statement Thursday that the new $77.6 million bond would provide some tax relief for property owners in the district.
Among the proposed improvements the money could fund is construction of a new May Whitney Elementary School, installing air conditioning in buildings without it, renovating or building library media centers at several schools and constructing STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) Labs at Middle School South, Middle School North and Lake Zurich High School.
The new May Whitney, library media centers and STEAM labs would ensure each district school has what the district calls 21st-Century Learning Spaces.
"The district is interested in reflecting what the community wants to see," district spokeswoman Jean Malek said Friday. "We're interested in remaining fiscally responsible and providing excellent facilities and learning opportunities for our students."
Community members made it clear through the process they were willing to fund a new bond issue as long as they were able to get a little tax relief in the process, district officials said.
This fall, the district led a series of community meetings about the future of its facilities and received feedback from nearly 300 people. More than 1,000 people participated in subsequent phone surveys on the topic.
According to district documents, 74 percent of those who gave feedback want the district to build STEAM labs for middle and high school students; 66 percent want the district to install air conditioning at the schools that don't have it now; and 60 percent support renovating or replacing the 100-year-old May Whitney Elementary School.
In addition, the school board has deliberated publicly on possible construction projects and the bond issuance for the last five board meetings.