U-46 officials unsure how they'll pay for facility upgrades

Elgin Area School District U-46 facilities may need as much as $300 million in upgrades over the next several years, according to a recently released report.

It's easy to outline what needs to be done: plumbing fixes, fire and safety upgrades, structural improvements, among others.

But how to pay for all this?

"That's a good question," district spokesman Tony Sanders said Tuesday.

The needed facility upgrades were noted in a capital planning and facilities report by Chicago-based Wight and Co. and Texas-based Magellan Consulting Inc.

The cost breaks down into $215 in general building needs and $85 million in what the firms call "educational facility deficiencies"- support for programs, technology and instruction.

Approximately $1.5 million in work needs to be done quickly, the report noted. The bulk of the renovations - about $200 million - should be completed over the next one to three years.

Another $97 million were described as "long term requirements."

U-46 high schools and elementary schools will need the most improvements, with more than $100 million in upgrades and repairs at both levels. The district's eight middle schools need a total of $56 million in work.

The approximate costs, Magellan President Sam Wilson told the school board Monday night, include general contractor overhead and markups, professional design fees, costs of permits and various contingencies.

But can the district afford to do this all on time?

Likely not.

Sanders said that before the report, the district was aware that it would need to pay for $98 million in life-safety upgrades.

Some of those costs will be paid for through the upcoming sale of $15 million in life safety bonds.

"We know we've identified some of the life safety concerns. But there is no current funding for the remainder of that work to be done," he said. District officials, including interim director of operations Jim Feuerborn, are still reviewing the full report, he said.

School Board President Ken Kaczynski said he was "unsure of how much we can possibly afford to spend right now."

Wilson assured the board that compared to other districts, U-46's situation is not dire.

U-46's facilities are in relatively good condition when compared to other large, urban districts, Wilson said.

Kaczynski said the board will likely take the next few months to develop a plan.

"It's going to take us some time to synthesize it and really get a look at what we have to do, what we can afford to do within our limits and what the economy is going to allow us to do," he said.

In the meantime, the district's citizens Advisory Council has been asked to come up with boundary changes for a dozen schools identified as over capacity in the report. Those changes are expected to be implemented in 2010, as the district continues to work on a long-range plan.

"There's no price tag attached to (boundary changes)," Kaczynski said. "Other than the emotional price tag."