District 214 spending about $2 million a year on unexpected repairs

While Northwest Suburban High School District 214 taxpayers face a $295 million price tag for school renovations that could be funded via referendum, the district already is tapping into its current budget and contingency funds to pay for a series of unplanned repairs.

That includes some $1 million to fix the gymnasium floor and add air conditioning at Prospect High School, where the indoor court surface buckled due to humidity, officials said.

It will cost nearly $500,000 for the emergency plumbing repairs that took place over Labor Day weekend at Wheeling High School — which led to the cancellation of classes on Sept. 8 — as crews replaced 300 feet of corroded sewer pipe beneath the main hallway outside the cafeteria.

An initial sewer backup occurred before school started in August, followed by two more backups, and officials decided the replacement couldn’t wait until Thanksgiving break.

“You’d be amazed the things you find in the sewers of a high school,” said Superintendent Scott Rowe.

The school board is expected to approve the Wheeling fix next month.

Already late last week, the board authorized spending up to $225,000 for a roof patch of 5,400 square feet where there is wet insulation above the Carter Gym, auto shop and daycare room at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights.

It’s only a small portion — about 7% — of those roof sections, but replacing the damaged roofing materials, skylight curbs and associated roof-deck infill is expected to extend the life of the roof by at least two years, according to Aneta Mistak, the district’s director of operations.

The roof work is expected to take 10 days, during which school is expected to stay open, officials said.

Projects like the Hersey roof are included in the district’s long-term facilities plan associated with the Nov. 3 referendum. But district spokeswoman Lindsey Dombrowski said the damage needs to be addressed now since the condition could directly impact staff and students if left untouched.

The district has spent nearly $6 million on emergency repairs over the past three years, Rowe said.

That includes $1.5 million to replace 29,000 square feet of roofing over the specialized schools at the Forest View Educational Center in Arlington Heights due to moisture infiltration in 2025, and $130,000 to install a temporary roof across 8,100 square feet at Prospect High School in 2023.

Other projects across the district’s seven campuses have included a new chiller, generator, transformer, rooftop units and sewer pipes.

If the trend continues, the district can expect about $1.5 million to $2 million worth of unexpected repairs per year, Rowe said.

“At the same time, we can’t really game plan and build that cushion in annually because we have other improvements that we need to make,” he said.

cplacek@dailyherald.com