Elmhurst D-205 Cost Overruns: Board Unanimous In Decision

ELMHURST, IL — The Elmhurst school board on Tuesday unanimously approved projects for two elementary schools, increasing the school district's cost overruns to nearly $16 million.

The projects are a new Field Elementary and a media center addition and other improvements for Jackson Elementary. Those projects are adding about $5 million more than the original estimates. In 2019, voters allowed the board to go $168 million in debt for improvements throughout the district.

At a meeting, board member Beth Hosler said $13.5 million of the cost overruns were the result of increases in the scope of projects so far.

"A lot of that is not coming out of the referendum budget," she said.

Member Chris Kocinski agreed with her point.

"We can fund this out of extra cash," he said. "We don't have the ability to issue extra bonds under the referendum process."

Some of the overruns were blamed on supply chain issues and inflation.

The district has more than $60 million left in projects. Board members wondered how much to expect in extra costs for them.

In response, the administration said the district's construction manager, Elmhurst-based International Contractors Inc., was coming up with an analysis of what to expect.

At a meeting last week, the board's finance committee looked at the bids for the Field and Jackson projects. Members expressed concern with the added costs, but were told they would likely see no benefit if they re-bid the projects. They are set to start next summer.

Earlier this year, the board decided to increase the size of the new Field school to a capacity of 600 students, from the current 400 to 450.

The committee made no recommendation.