Limited support for new Naperville Central
Most Naperville Unit District 203 residents say they wouldn't support rebuilding Naperville Central High School, according to the results of a new survey that contradicts prior feedback.
The district Wednesday released the findings of a random telephone survey of 400 residents that showed only 19.3 percent of respondents would support rebuilding the school.
Roughly 61 percent said they would support a tax increase for major renovations at the school, while 61.5 percent said they would support lesser improvements with no tax increase.
"What's clear from looking at the results is strong support for renovations but not for building a new school," Superintendent Alan Leis said. "It's critically important data for the board to make a final decision."
District 203 has been studying facility issues at all of its schools and came up with three possible options to address the most pressing needs, with costs ranging from $22 million to $168 million.
Naperville Central has been at the hub of all three options as the school most in need of improvements. Three possible solutions posed to residents were a $6 million to $30 million minor renovation, a $72 million major renovation, or $130 million to $140 million to construct a new high school.
When asked to choose just one of those options, 41.8 percent of respondents picked the minor renovations, 34.3 percent picked the major renovations and 19.3 percent supported building a new Central.
Both the major renovation and new school would require a tax increase via a referendum, possibly as early as Feb. 5. Major renovations would cost the owner of a $331,000 house an additional $76 a year for each of the next 20 years. while a rebuild would cost the same taxpayer about $187 to $206 a year for 20 years.
The facilities task force that spent six months studying the issue also recommended the major renovations.
Throughout August and September, the district held several dozen community engagement meetings and facility tours to educate people about the options and solicit input from residents.
Of the 755 people who gave the district feedback at that time, about 70 percent said they support a rebuild, 66 percent support a major renovation and 29 percent support minor renovations.
The results are dramatically different than the latest telephone survey conducted by UNICOM-ARC, which found little support for a new Naperville Central.
Leis said he would guess those attending community engagement meetings are probably the residents who have more of a vested stake in Central while the telephone survey was a random sample of the community.
Roughly 25 percent of those taking the phone survey had participated in the community engagement process.
Leis said he puts more weight on the latest figures from the phone survey because the district will ultimately need the broader community's support to pass a ballot measure.
"A lot of people think it's important to look at a new Central, but the reality is we have to respond to where the community is and what the community's wishes are," he said.
The school board will discuss the latest feedback at a work session at 7 p.m. Nov. 5 at the district administrative center, 203 W. Hillside Road.
It is scheduled to make a decision about which plan to pursue Nov. 19.