Consultant: Warren should expand Almond Road school

An expansion of Warren Township High School's Almond Road upperclassmen campus is necessary and might cost up to $16 million, according to a consultant who presented a report to elected board members Thursday.

Voters would get to decide whether they want to pay for building renovations if a tax-increase referendum lands on the Nov. 4 ballot.

Phil Sobocinski, superintendent at Gurnee-based Warren District 121, was directed to work with an architect and secure precise cost estimates after board members viewed the consultant's presentation.

After the financial data is secured, the District 121 board is expected to discuss the building proposal and decide whether to pursue the tax hike at a meeting Aug. 26.

William DeJong, a Dublin, Ohio-based consultant who specializes in capacity analysis and facility assessments for schools across the country, was hired by the Warren board to study the Almond Road campus.

The Almond building opened in 1997.

DeJong said the school has a functional building capacity of 1,800. He said this year's enrollment is pegged at 1,930 students, with an eventual peak to 2,350, then leveling to 2,200.

In his study, DeJong suggests adding 20 classrooms at Almond. He said 14 would be new classrooms and six reconfigured from existing space.

DeJong also recommends office renovations, an expanded kitchen, a bigger cafeteria, more physical education space and an enlarged media center. He offered a high-end estimate of $16 million for all of the work.

"From what I've seen, I ... think it's time for you to move on this thing. Do it," DeJong told Warren board members.

District 121 board member Roberta Pfeiffer said DeJong's preliminary ideas looked "great." Board President John Anderson said he looked forward to receiving more details after Sobocinski consults with the architect.

"We need a firmer cost than what we have here," Anderson said.

In April 2007, Gurnee-area voters rejected a tax-hike request that, among other things, would have provided cash for another building expansion plan for the Almond Road building. Part of the plan called for 25 new classrooms, a new cafeteria and extra office space.

DeJong told Warren officials Thursday they'd have to consider trailers for extra space at the junior-senior campus if a building expansion doesn't occur.