Maine Township High School District 207 officials are considering asking voters to approve a property-tax increase to help pay for an estimated $240.7 million worth of infrastructure projects and instructional improvements across the district’s three high schools.
A $195 million bond referendum would be required in order to fund the bulk of the projects, which range from constructing secure, main-entry vestibules at each school, to updating classroom space and replacing outdated plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems across the district, Superintendent Ken Wallace told members of the media Thursday in Park Ridge.
The district plans to use $45.7 million in reserves to cover the remainder of the project cost, district officials said.
The District 207 Board of Education still needs to sign off on the plan, and no decision has been made as to when a referendum would appear on the ballot, Wallace said.
“That question hasn’t been settled,” he said. “I don’t think we can say with any level of certainty that there’s a date it’s going to happen.”
Wallace said he expects the school board will be asked to vote on whether to go to referendum in July. If that happens, the board could decide to place the referendum request on the ballot as early as in the November election, Wallace and Kalou indicated.
The tax hike, if approved, would last 20 years, until the bonds are paid off, the district said. The cost to taxpayers would be approximately $233 a year for the owner of a home with a median home value of $271,000 or $346 per year for the owner of a home with a median value of $380,000, the district said.
Assuming an interest rate of 4.54 percent, the total amount the district will be required to pay back on a $195 million bond issue will be $300.1 million, according to the district.
If the board votes to go to referendum and the proposal is approved, it is expected that the design portion of the work will take 12 to 18 months, followed by three years of actual construction.
“It will be a lot of summer work,” Kalou said.
Plans shared by the district pinpoint 51 projects. Some of the major ones proposed for all three schools include securing front entrances of the schools to prevent visitors from entering the buildings without being approved by front door personnel; creating “flexible learning spaces” in classrooms to accommodate new ways of instruction and learning, Wallace said.
The project would also include adding “collaboration zones” throughout the schools for individual and small group study; combining academic support and student support services (deans, counselors, psychologists and other support personnel) in one location, which administrators said will improve collaboration among multiple staff who are working with the same students; upgrading outdated plumbing, electrical and mechanical systems that have not yet been addressed; and updating locker rooms.
Some additions are planned at individual schools. At Maine East, which was built in 1929 in Park Ridge and is the district’s oldest building, a two-story addition is proposed off the field house, with student locker rooms on the first floor and weight rooms and a dance room on the second floor.
At Maine South, built in Park Ridge in 1964, there is a proposal to widen the back and front hallways that run through the center wing of the school and connect the back hallway to the A-wing. There is also a plan to expand the band/orchestra area in the performing arts wing to allow for more storage and free up classroom space, Wallace said.
At Maine West, which was built in Des Plaines in 1958, a field house will be built and athletics will be combined to take place in one area of the school, according to the proposal.
The majority of classrooms will receive some type of improvements, whether it is a fresh coat of paint or new desks and furniture, Kalou said.
Several community meetings are planned to share information on the proposals for each school. Meeting dates and additional information on the projects proposed for each school can be found at Maine207.org.
Wallace said he believed the district has been “good stewards” of tax dollars and its school buildings, regularly funding upkeep and capital projects. Within the last four years, the district spent $33 million on facility upgrades, he said.
But officials said that in order to do all the improvements proposed under the new master plan, the district must go to referendum seeking a tax increase, as the district cannot issue $195 million worth of bonds without voter approval.
If the referendum fails, the district will continue to do capital work in piecemeal fashion, focusing on the “worst of the worst,” Kalou said.
Wallace appeared optimistic that voters will support the district’s request.
“I have a lot of confidence in our communities and I believe we’ve honored their trust with how we’ve taken care of the buildings,” he said. “Frankly you will be hard-pressed to look at any of the high schools in the north Cook area who have gone 51 years since they’ve asked their taxpayers to enhance their buildings.”
District 207 covers all of Park Ridge and portions of Des Plaines, Niles, Morton Grove, Glenview, unincorporated Maine Township, Norridge, Harwood Heights, unincorporated Norwood Park Township and Rosemont.