Renovating Central the best solution

As a Naperville Central High School parent, my initial reaction was to tear it down and build a new high school. The school is over 60 years old and in desperate need of updating! I asked why District 203 was not pursuing that option and here is what I was told. From a survey of over 700 people that took the NCHS facilities tours, over 70 percent felt a complete tear down was the right thing to do. Unfortunately there are a number of reasons this won't happen.

• There is no place to put a new school. The surrounding area is either unavailable or too expensive, therefore there would be no place for kids to go to school if the current facility were leveled. The building of a new school while the existing school is functional would require 81 acres. We have 26.

• An independent random telephone survey of 400 Naperville voters indicated that only 31 percent of residents would support this option.

• A new high school would be very costly -- likely over $140 million.

A new referendum would not be proposed for at least another two years so with a project cost escalation of four to seven percent per year, the cost could reach $165 million by the time it would be built. -- The amount of proposed renovations and additions to Naperville Central are extensive. Over 75 percent of the building will be affected to make it as new as possible. It will essentially be a "new" school.

I feel that this solution for District 203 facilities is long overdue. The needs of Naperville Central have to be addressed now. Four out of my five children will not benefit from the renovation, however I still feel it is necessary for our community. We can not continue to expect outstanding results from our teachers and students when they are working in a substandard environment.

Vote "yes" for the proposed referendum!

Peggy Poll

Naperville