District 23 breaks ground on Eisenhower addition to facilitate all-day kindergarten mandate

Prospect Heights Elementary School District 23 officials broke ground Thursday on an addition to Eisenhower Elementary School, launching a construction project aimed at meeting a state mandate for full-day kindergarten by August 2027.

The rain forced district officials, as well as those from Prospect Heights and area state representatives, indoors. But they were able to carry their hard hats into the school gymnasium.

“This is work that is about our heart. It is about moving the district forward,” Superintendent Don Angelaccio told the gathering.

The project will add four classrooms and a second multi-purpose room to the building. It will also relocate the main office, establish a new entry and create a drop-off/pickup parking lot.

“We are eager to bring the community together to kick off this project, which has been needed for quite some time,” Angelaccio said. “The work at Eisenhower will enable us to better serve D23 students and families today and in the future.”

The Eisenhower addition is smaller than originally proposed. District 23 is covering construction costs through a no-tax-impact financing plan that refinances existing debt. To fund ongoing operations, the district is reducing staffing and programs.

The district serves approximately 1,480 pre-kindergarten through eighth-grade students across four schools — Eisenhower Elementary, Betsy Ross Elementary, Anne Sullivan Elementary and MacArthur Middle School — in Prospect Heights, Arlington Heights and Wheeling.

District leaders say the project addresses programming, safety and facility needs that have gone unmet for years, with the full-day kindergarten requirement representing the most immediate deadline.

The groundbreaking comes as the district continues to grapple with financial challenges it attributes to unfunded mandates, rising costs and stagnant revenues.

This summer, administrators and board members are weighing further budget cuts, a scaled-back tax referendum in November or a combination of both. Decisions are expected in August.

“We are committed to continuing to stretch every dollar so we can meet the most essential needs,” Angelaccio said. “This means aligning spending and revenue while doing everything we can to maintain and update our facilities and invest in learning.”

Construction on the Eisenhower addition is scheduled for completion by August 2027.