District 200 board gets 400-page facility report
The Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 school board Wednesday received a hefty master facility plan that amounts to more than 400 pages of material on improving buildings in the district.
Representatives from Perkins+Will, the architecture firm hired by the district last June to complete the plan, reviewed the components of the report with board members during Wednesday's meeting and explained the best way to read the information.
But there was no discussion about any of the conclusions presented in the report.
"We've got some homework here before we can make any real comments," board President Jim Vroman said.
The board will meet at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 27, at the school service center, 130 W. Park Ave. in Wheaton, to discuss what the plan says about Jefferson Early Childhood Center, as it is the school that needs the most work in the district.
In addition, the board will have an all-day discussion about the entire report on Saturday, April 30, at Wheaton North High School.
Board member Brad Paulsen said he was very impressed by the work done by Perkins+Will.
"This is a ton of work. I've got to commend you guys for consolidating everything," he said. "There's going to be many months of questions."
On Wednesday, the board also entered an agreement with Mount Prospect-based Nicolas & Associates, a cost estimating and construction management services firm that will help the board prioritize the content in the facility master plan and more accurately pinpoint the costs of proposed improvements.
Earlier this year, the board was presented with four funding options for the master facility plan.
They include using funds the district already has, using future operating and maintenance dollars, issuing non-referendum bonds and putting a referendum question on the ballot to ask for voter approval to sell bonds.
The options are not mutually exclusive.
Wednesday's meeting marked the end of a lengthy facility master planning process, which was broken down into four phases.
The first two, approved last summer, included the development of a planning team, establishment of goals, facility tours, data collection and assessments.
In the fall, the board approved phase three, which involved three community engagement sessions about the district's facilities.
Phase four requested the Perkins+Will design team compile a final deliverable in time for Wednesday's meeting.
In an early educational assessment of the schools, Perkins+Will concluded there were seven key areas that could use improvements: science spaces, library learning centers, classroom furniture, instructional technology, small and large group areas, building security and Jefferson Early Childhood Center.