Naperville Dist. 203 superintendent talks about facility options

Naperville Unit District 203 administrators will make their official recommendations tonight about which facility projects they think the school board should pursue.

After two years of study, Superintendent Alan Leis will offer his ideas at 7:30 p.m. at the district administration office, 203 W. Hillside Road.

Three plans are on the table, ranging in cost from $22 million to $168 million. At the center of the discussion is Naperville Central High School, which officials will suggest be either renovated or rebuilt.

Based on feedback from the community, leaders appear to be leaning toward a major renovation that would cost $79 million to $89 million, depending on the specifics of the plan.

That work would be part of a larger $100 million district-wide effort that would require residents to approve a $40 million tax increase by way of a referendum that likely would come in February.

After Leis makes his preferences known tonight, the board will vote on the issue during a special meeting Dec. 3.

Leis recently sat down with the Daily Herald to discuss the facility options the district is considering.

Here is an edited version of the conversation:

Q. The district appears to be headed on a renovation course for Naperville Central. Is that the case?

A. I think that's fair. I think the consultant indicated to us that it would be virtually impossible at this point to even consider a new school, so I think that puts us strongly on a renovation course. A "Herculean task" is what I recall him saying (about persuading the community to build a new school).

Q. Is it your sense the board is going the same direction?

A. I think so. It's one of the things I tried to determine (at the Nov. 5 work session). I (said) … "I'm going to be spending the next two weeks actively working on the difference between the $79 million and the $84 million plan for our next meeting, so I come back to you understanding that and ready to make a recommendation as to what would go on a referendum. Is that OK with you? Because I'm going to be spending my time on a renovation." And at least four or five of them visibly said "yes."

Q. So you're deciding between the $79 million plan versus the $84 million-to-$89 million plan?

A. Right. I spent part of this morning at Central, where the architects are reviewing where things go and whether there are enough special ed spaces and do we have therapy rooms -- all these other kinds of things. So now we're into tweaking basically to make sure there are no surprises in terms of costs, etc.

I think (the cost of handling) storm water (now set at $5 million) was definitely a surprise, but that's just the way it is … because the site is so incredibly tight the only way to do it is underground.

So that turns handling storm water from (a project that would cost) several hundred thousand dollars into $5 million in order to make it work. So that was one of the little surprises. We're trying to make sure there's nothing else that's going to surprise us.

Q. At the last board meeting, you said there is also an additional $2 million on the cost for a renovation because of the delay. What delay was that?

A. I think in the original estimates they (the consultants) believed or projected we would do all the site work and the prep work and the design work before the referendum. And after those estimates came in, I remember saying "We just can't do that. That's not right because it will cost several hundred thousand dollars and the voters haven't authorized it and that's just not the right way to do it."

So I think the original estimates thought the bulldozers would be showing up a couple months after the referendum because all of the design work would have been done ahead of time.

Q. Are there any other ways you can bring the cost of renovation down?

A. That's what they're reviewing with staff. We have two messages. One, basically, is the community wants to do it for as reasonably as possibly. But they've also said we don't want you to do a Band-Aid. And we are promising them that this will do it for 40 to 50 years. So we've got to make sure we're covering both of those bases fairly.

Q. What is your response to some of the parents who are concerned about their children being in a construction zone for several years?

A. Basically what I say to parents about that is the district I came from renovated probably 25 high schools in the time I was there. Do you have to manage it carefully, do you have be concerned about safety? Of course you do.

Is it going to be disruptive, are there parking issues, are there occasionally some noise issues, do people end up in less-than-desirable space for a couple months while something is being renovated? All of those things are absolutely true.

But it's always worked out; there haven't been any safety problems.

And in reality, what you do to make this work is you build some of the new stuff like the science labs first and then move the science people into those spaces and then you solve another section of the building and work intensively on that. And they do the noisy stuff at night and they do everything possible in the summer. It's just that in a high school renovation you can't do everything in the summer or it would take too many years to accomplish the whole task.

But what I've found over and over again is when the first new areas are released and people in the school begin moving into those areas, that gives everyone a jolt … and then the momentum begins to build and the excitement begins to build.

Q. How long would renovations at Central take?

A. We're talking at least three years probably. Particularly because we haven't done the design elements. You have to get all the permits, you have to go through all of that kind of stuff, the designs. You've got to phase it so carefully.

The athletic director (at Central) asked me "Am I going to lose a whole football season?" and I said "You've got to be prepared for that and we've got to come up with a timetable so you can figure out how you can play at other locations." So it's going to take at least three years. It's in the chart in the master facilities plan.