District 203 asks voters to fund renovations

Naperville Unit District 203 will ask taxpayers on Tuesday to pitch in $43 million to help foot the bill for several renovation projects.

The tax increase would help fund $114.9 million in facility enhancements over the next five years, including a major renovation to Naperville Central High School, an addition and renovations to Mill Street Elementary School, and building an early childhood center.

The district has been studying its facilities for about four years, including an architectural review of all 21 schools.

"One of the early issues that arose is that some of our facilities are outdated and simply not meeting our kids' needs for the future, for their 21st-century education," Superintendent Alan Leis said.

If voters approve it, the referendum will cost the average taxpayer about $82 a year for each of the next 20 years, district officials said.

Central

Naperville Central High School is one of the district's oldest facilities and already has been expanded five times.

Officials say there aren't enough classrooms even with the expected enrollment decline and existing classrooms are too small to accommodate small-group work or hands-on activities, especially in the science labs.

They also say the age of the school has led to difficulty in supporting technology needs and that the campus is short on athletic fields.

The proposed $87.7 million renovation to the school would affect roughly 75 percent of the building. The three-story wing would undergo a mix of new construction and remodeling in order to house all major subject areas.

The plan also would move and update the learning resource center, add physical education and music spaces, reduce building entrances and put synthetic turf on the football field so it could be used more often.

Mill

Of the district's 21 elementary schools, Mill Street Elementary has the lowest square footage per student.

Because of its space issues, students do some of their small-group work in the hallways, which also double as storage space. Officials say the gymnasium and library are inadequate and the school has safety issues with its outside traffic configuration.

The district's proposal for a $7.3 million renovation would build a gymnasium, improve the learning resource center and add office space as well as a small amount of classroom space.

The district is still studying whether to redraw the school's attendance boundaries to help alleviate space concerns.

Early childhood

Early childhood is not a typical preschool program.

By law, the district must offer early childhood services to preschool-age children who have special needs.

In District 203, this program is spread between five schools using facilities that are meant for older children. Program leaders say these students would benefit from having teachers and resources in a centralized location dedicated to their needs.

In all three of the facility plans the district put together, building a new $11 million early childhood center remained a constant.

The center would be built on property the district already owns near Huntington Estates off Naper Boulevard.

Additional projects

Other schools are included in the facility plans as well. Naperville North High School would get $5.2 million in enhancements, including synthetic turf on its football field, increased pool depth, renovation of pool locker rooms and fixes to its outdoor traffic pattern.

Prairie and Ranch View elementary schools and Washington Junior High are also on the priority list to get $700,000 in security enhancements.

Renovations at Naperville Central will have an effect on all elementary schools. The school's renovation plan includes a kitchen that could provide hot lunches for the schools. Currently only four of 14 elementary schools have hot lunch through a pilot program.

Lastly, the district has included $3 million in the total cost for contingencies.

Funding

Of the $114.9 million in facility improvements, $43 million would come from the tax increase voters will be considering Tuesday.

For the average taxpayer, that will mean an additional $82 a year for each of the next 20 years.

The remaining $71.9 million comes from the sale of property, interest income, revenue from the Cantera tax increment financing district and a portion of the district's operating surplus that has been set aside for the past few years specifically for facilities.

That surplus has been a point of controversy since much of it came from the district over-collecting millions of dollars in its 2002 referendum. When school board proposals to refund money to taxpayers failed, the board agreed to set the excess funds aside for facilities.

Some taxpayers, like former board member Mike Davitt, say they still feel burned by the 2002 referendum. Davitt said the current referendum is not about $82 a year but about holding the district accountable for past financial indiscretions.

"Education is about the quality of the learning experience, not the aesthetics of the learning environment," he said. "It's time to hold District 203 accountable for the skyrocketing taxes we've all been paying for the last 10 years."

The district says this referendum is different than 2002 in that it is a fixed amount not tied to the tax rate. They say homeowners should see their contribution toward facilities stay consistent from year to year as long as their property values don't change dramatically compared to the district average.

Jim Dennison, co-chair of the Build the Future 203 referendum committee, said the district's plan is a good long-term solution and a worthwhile investment of tax dollars.

"This is a fiscally responsible option that will provide a great learning environment for our students," he said.

For more information on the referendum, visit www.naperville203.org and click on Build the Future.