Rising Costs For Elmhurst School Projects?

ELMHURST, IL — Elmhurst School District 205 was already expecting to go $11.4 million over budget with its school projects.

Last week, the school board learned the number could rise even more.

At a meeting, the board was told the bids for Jackson Elementary School's renovations and media center addition were all higher than the district expected.

Todd Schmidt, the district's building and grounds director, said officials were reviewing the bids with the district's construction manager, Elmhurst-based International Contractors Inc., to see why the low bids came in higher.

"Was it because of the supply chain? Was it because of the schedule? Or is that just business going forward?" Schmidt said.

He did not say how much higher the bids came in over budget.

Board members worried the higher costs would be a sign of things to come, particularly with the much larger project to build a new Field Elementary School.

"My initial reaction is that if Jackson is coming in higher, then it's all coming in higher," board member Karen Stuefen said. "That's kind of where my head went immediately. Please prove me wrong."

Member Athena Arvanitis said it may be time for the construction manager to update the estimates for future projects.

"Having a little exposure to the bid process, I'm a little surprised to hear they're coming in higher than anticipated," she said.

Field Elementary's bids are set to come in Dec. 1, which would be a major indicator about where the other projects are headed cost-wise. The school board is expected to decide on bids at its Dec. 14 meeting.

In 2018, local voters allowed the district to go $168 million into debt for the projects.

At a board meeting in September, members were told the district was poised to go over budget by $11.4 million with the projects. That was largely because officials had just decided on building a much larger Field Elementary in response to expected increases in enrollment.

Officials generally agreed the district could cover the extra costs by dipping into its bank accounts, rather than borrowing more money.