With start of school on the horizon, work continues on improvement projects at Indian Prairie District 204

With the start of school coming up in a little over two weeks, many Indian Prairie School District 204 students will return to classrooms in buildings that look a little different from how they left them in the spring — in some cases, a lot different.

As a result of the passage of a 2024 referendum question enabling the district to sell up to $420 million in bonds for a district-wide facility overhaul, major renovations are underway at Indian Prairie.

The bonds are to be paid for using a continuation of an existing 37-cent property tax per $100 of equalized assessed value that would otherwise have expired at the end of 2026. That means the tax rate for residents in terms of their contribution to capital projects would effectively remain flat.

Since the referendum question’s passage, Indian Prairie has been preparing for major projects across district buildings that are set to extend through 2032. The projects include school-specific renovations at Waubonsie Valley High School, Neuqua Valley High School, Metea Valley High School, the Birkett Freshman Center and Gregory and Hill middle schools, along with district-wide safety and security upgrades, LED lighting installations and other infrastructure projects.

This summer, the work includes projects like significant renovations at Waubonsie Valley and Neuqua Valley high schools and secure entryways at some district schools. Some of the projects are slated to be finished in time for school starting, while others will still be underway when classes begin on Aug. 17.

While work has been underway for more than a year, this summer has been the “first and maybe most significant phase” of the referendum-funded construction, according to District 204 Chief School Business Official Matt Shipley. This current summer and the following one are expected to be the busiest, with significant work also going on this school year.

Included in the work this summer are renovations to Waubonsie and additions to Neuqua that will ultimately allow the district to bring freshman students — who for more than 20 years have attended class at the Birkett Freshman Center, a building a little less than a mile from the main campus — back into the main Neuqua High School building.

The work at Waubonsie this summer includes a renovated stadium, cafeteria and atrium and commons space, as well as some renovated classroom spaces, according to District 204 Director of Building Operations John Robinson. Last year, the building, the oldest of the district’s three high schools, got a major auditorium overhaul.

Neuqua is also undergoing work this summer. As part of the district facilities overhaul, the school is slated to get an addition to the front of the existing building for student and staff resources, and an addition in the back that will house primarily classrooms and science labs.

The renovations at these two schools over the course of the facilities overhaul are set to account for a little more than half of the district’s total bond funds.

And Metea Valley, which first opened its doors in 2009, will be getting a secure entryway and is having its track resurfaced, according to Robinson.

All three of the district’s high schools are also getting turf fields, Robinson noted.

Waubonsie is also getting a second turf field, which is set to be used for soccer, physical education and other activities, according to Robinson. The costs for that project are set to be offset by way of a usage agreement with Galaxy Soccer Club. Work for the soccer field is set to start in the fall and be completed by the spring, per district documents.

Beyond just the work at the high schools, 11 district schools are getting new secure entryways this year, Shipley said, including six of the district’s seven middle schools. Officials said 11 schools’ entryways were upgraded last year, too, as part of the facilities overhaul. The idea for the “secure vestibules” is to make it so that schools have a single and secure entryway that requires visitors to first interact with the main office before they can get into the school.

There’s also flooring work, some new playgrounds, solar panel installations and LED lighting work being done, according to Shipley.

“It’s almost every school in the district this summer,” Shipley told The Beacon-News.

As for the district’s finances, Indian Prairie has spent about $59 million on the overhaul from January 2025 through June 2026, according to Shipley, with plans for about another $100 million in spending between now and next summer. Work has largely been at or under budget, he said, giving the district the opportunity to accelerate some work to potentially get it finished early.

The last bond issuances are slated for 2027 and 2029, with all projects set to be completed by 2032, he said.

“We’re excited about the work,” Shipley said. “And really excited to have students back in the fall to really see all the good work we’ve been doing.”

But not all of the ongoing work will be completed by the time classes begin, Robinson explained. For example, Waubonsie’s cafeteria is not set to be finished until December, while the school’s atrium isn’t expected to be finished until 2027. Work at Neuqua is also set to extend into the 2026-27 school year.

But that “short-term inconvenience” of the ongoing work is also providing some different opportunities, according to Shipley.

For example, Waubonsie and Neuqua had Indian Prairie student interns at both sites this summer working with the construction management team, he explained. The district has also had some classes take tours of the construction and meet with the construction teams, and some viewing areas have been added so that students can see the work going on at their schools.

Shipley said this a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” for those campuses “to get some of those unique experiences.”

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com