Dist. 203 explored other options before reaching deal with unions

Superintendent Mark Mitrovich said Naperville Unit District 203 officials explored a "multitude" of options in the event a construction strike prevents Naperville Central High School from opening Aug. 25.

Ultimately, though, all the choices were flawed, he said, leaving the district with only one real option: to deal directly with the striking unions to ensure the $87.7 million renovation project is completed on time.

Here are some of the options the district explored and why Mitrovich said they weren't feasible:

• Delaying the start of school past Aug. 25.

"In discussions with the state board of education they indicated to us that they were not prepared to grant us any leeway whatsoever," he said. "They indicated to us that we have been given adequate notice about this situation (and) therefore getting any relief from state statues was not a possibility."

• Temporarily moving students to Naperville North.

"If we would have gone to Naperville North, all we would have done is taken a 3,100-student problem and made it a 6,200-student problem," he said. "That, in the end, was a nice thought but impractical."

• Going to other locations that theoretically would have been large enough to house students, including the Alcatel-Lucent campus in Lisle.

"This would have proven even more problematic because, at the high school level, the number of specialized classrooms we need to carry out a true program would have required a major retrofitting," he said.