Bids to fix Arlington Heights school way over budget

Costs to repair the former Rand School on Arlington Heights Road came in about $1 million over budget, District 25 board members were told on Thursday night.

Currently Chicago Futabakai Japanese School is renting out the building at 2550 N. Arlington Heights Road. Futabakai recently signed a new 10-year lease with Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 to rent out the former Rand School.

Futabakai will pay $375,206 annually to rent the building, said Stacey Mallek, the district's assistant superintendent of business.

Part of the lease deal was that Futabakai pay District 25 $1.6 million for new floors and repairs to the roof, water pipes and more. Work also includes asbestos removal, said Ken Roiland, District 25's director of facilities management.

However, the bids to do this work came in at more than $ 2 million, so District 25 and Futabakai officials will have to decide what to do next, Roiland said.

"We may have to pair back the work or tie some work into ongoing maintenance," said Roiland about the building that dates back to 1968.

Part of the problem is Futabakai's almost year-round schedule. Instead of a summer, students are off only from mid-March through mid-April, Roiland said.

Futabakai is a Japanese school designed for children whose parents are working on a diplomatic, business or educational mission in the Chicago area. Futabakai families return to Japan after a few years.

It offers the same curriculum used in public elementary and middle schools in Japan, so when the students go back, they will not fall behind in the class.

The maintenance work at Futabakai will be done in two phases, with the first phase in July and the second phase in April 2009, Roiland said.

Roiland will report back to the school board on May 8 about the building's maintenance issues.