Aptakisic-Tripp District 102 to ask voters for an average of $468 a year for building upgrades

Buffalo Grove-based Aptakisic-Tripp Elementary District 102 will ask voters April 4 to approve a $49 million bond issue to fund building upgrades and add classrooms.

The school board voted unanimously Thursday to place the measure on the ballot.

If approved, a tax hike needed to repay the bonds would cost the owner of a $375,000 home - the median home price in District 102 - about an additional $468 a year, according to the district's website.

District officials said the money would address long-standing needs, including boilers, windows and roofs at all district buildings. Safety and security also would be improved with new cameras and phone systems, officials say.

Overcrowding would be addressed at Aptakisic Junior High with the addition of 15 to 20 classrooms, as well as new science labs.

Among the benefits, according to the district, would be extending the life of the schools, reducing costly emergency repairs, improving energy efficiency, and attracting and retaining quality teachers.

If voters approve the request, the work would represent the second phase of the district's capital plan.

The first phase was completed from 2016 to 2018 and funded by $28 million in district funds and alternate revenue bonds without a tax increase. It included classroom space enhancements in elementary schools, a fine arts addition at Aptakisic Junior High School, purchase of new district office space, expansion of the junior high cafeteria and an early childhood center addition at Meridian School.

Should voters reject the request, the planned work would still have to be done, school board President Ellyn Ross said.

"We would have to pull the money from somewhere else," she said. That would likely be the education fund, which would pull dollars from programming, Ross said.

Before the vote Thursday, Ross thanked the district administrative staff for their work on the proposal.

"I know it's been a lot of work, a lot of effort, a lot of running around, answering a million different questions," she said.

District 102 educates about 2,500 students at an early learning center, three elementary schools and a junior high.