District 214 board pushes to trim renovation referendum ask below $300 million
Most Northwest Suburban High School District 214 board members appear unwilling to stomach any referendum ask above $300 million, meaning renovations to classrooms, culinary labs and student services spaces could be trimmed from Superintendent Scott Rowe’s $318 million recommendation.
Four board members — President Frank Fiarito, Vice President Vicki Chung, Alva Kreutzer and Mary Kay Baldino — all quoted preferences for a dollar figure below $300 million, in what would be the first referendum for the state’s second-largest high school district in 53 years. That’s when Buffalo Grove High School was built.
Board member Joe Sagerer supported Rowe’s $318 million proposal during meeting discussion Thursday night, while Bill Dussling favored $375 million, which was the middle range of cost options in a recent public survey that topped out at $450 million. Board member Mark Hineman was less committal about a dollar amount, saying he wanted to drill down on specifics of the project list.
Rowe was taking the pulse of the school board as he prepares ballot language for the elected panel to consider at its Aug. 6 meeting. But amid much back and forth during the hourlong discussion late Thursday — the latest in a process that began with a facilities assessment four years ago — the district ultimately faces an Aug. 17 deadline to get a tax question on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Rowe’s recommendation, devised with Associate Superintendent for Business Services Justin Attaway and Director of Operations Aneta Mistak, was inclusive of the public survey’s so-called Option 1 at a $300 million price tag. That would cover building upgrades for electrical, pavement, door hardware and card access, fire alarm systems, HVAC, plumbing, new boilers, roofs, elevators, windows, stadium and gym bleachers safety, science lab and theater renovations.
It would yield a yearly tax increase of roughly $190 for the owner of a $396,500 house, district officials estimate.
But district administrators added three other categories: modernizing classrooms, updating culinary labs and redesigning student services spaces where counselors, social workers and deans meet with students. The latter has so far been completed at three of the district’s six schools.
The administration’s $318.2 million recommended list of projects is estimated to be $351.7 million when adjusted for inflation over a five-year construction period.
“When I look at the list, it still feels like there are some items that are more wants than needs,” said Chung, seeking to whittle down the three categories Rowe added. “We also need to consider the economic climate we’re in. … We need to show restraint in what we ask for.”
Baldino recommended the other areas be addressed with district reserve funds over a longer period of time, especially once the delayed Cook County property tax distribution system is fixed.
Even before the board’s discussion Thursday, residents on either side of a potential referendum took to the public comment podium. Three current or former students supported some level of additional investment, while seven others were mostly opposed.
Among the latter group was Brian Costin, deputy state director of Americans for Prosperity — Illinois, who filed an ethics complaint Monday that alleges the Arlington Heights-based district’s polling — contracted through EO Sullivan Consulting — is prohibited political activity under state law.
Rowe defended the online and in-person surveys as “transparent fact finding” in the lead-up to a potential referendum. He said the district hasn’t used public resources to urge “anyone to vote for or against anything.”
“The board undertook the work responsible governance requires before any major decision. It studied the facilities. It assessed the costs. And it asked the community,” Rowe said. “We also heard clearly that affordability matters in every household budget. And that input reshaped the work itself. The scope under consideration was narrowed by nearly half to focus on the most foundational needs first.”
“Seeking the community’s input before making a decision, publishing the results in full, and deliberating in public session are the ordinary and proper functions of an elected governing board.”