Upgrades sorely needed at district’s schools
How we treat and educate children is a direct reflection of our community’s values. At this moment, our children are not being served as well as we all want. Despite conservative fiscal stewardship and years of doing “more with less,” students and families in District 57 have two school buildings that are not meeting their basic needs.
In both buildings, teachers are forced to work with individual and small groups of students in hallways and stairwells. Libraries, learning centers, classrooms and gyms are small and unable to support the needs of a 21st century curriculum. Students struggle to just make it through the narrow hallways. And in 2024, schools must be purposely designed for security and safety. Neither building incorporates the latest security features.
Meanwhile, we continue to fall behind our neighboring communities that have invested in their schools, both in terms of infrastructure and operations. The time has come to improve the two schools that support every student in District 57.
The almost 75-year-old Lincoln Middle School is in poor condition, forcing students and teachers to work in classrooms that are inadequate for modern learning and where life-safety infrastructure like fire sprinklers is missing entirely. The building itself is getting in the way of students accessing cutting edge content in science, technology and the arts. Right now, the upkeep on this building is already reaching beyond the district’s capacity.
And our property values will plummet along with this deteriorating building. The better decision is to rebuild from the ground up. The plan to do so has been well-vetted and solves all the school’s challenges while also making it flexible for future generations.
Westbrook School needed renovation before the state of Illinois required full-day kindergarten. It is now mandatory for the district to comply, so we need more room to accommodate the full-day schedule. More importantly, most other districts in the area were already offering full-day kindergarten, something that benefits students, families and the economy.
The plan to eliminate mobile classrooms and connect the wings of the school is smart, efficient and achieves several instructional, life-safety and security goals. Important spaces such as the library, gym, art, music and student support spaces will be vastly improved. It will bring District 57 up to parity with other districts in the surrounding suburbs.
We cannot “kick the can down the road” any longer. Waiting will only increase expenses, and we’ll also miss the chance to improve the lives of students now. And the mandate for full-day kindergarten must be met now. The results of these kinds of physical improvements will be seen quickly in greater attendance, easier access, improved learning, increased teacher retention and higher property values for homeowners.
This project will make District 57 “whole” in terms of school facilities. Mount Prospect should have the best schools in the world. Our children should experience the best education in the world. Voting “yes” to the D57 referendum will make that goal a reality.
• Terri Gens is a parent of a graduated Lincoln Junior High School student. Joe Sonnefeldt and Joseph Leane are former District 57 school board presidents. All three writers are from Mount Prospect.