District 200 OKs $132.5 Million Bond Proposal for Facility Upgrades

For the past several months, Community Unit School District 200 has been grappling over how to pay for significant facility needed at 19 of its 20 schools.

On Wednesday night, the Board of Education approved 6-1 to place a referendum question on the April 4 ballot.

Needed repairs, renovations and upgrades to 19 of tbe 20 schools will cost $154.5 million, according to a District 200 news release. The referendum question seeks to issue $132.5 million in bonds. The board would commit to fund the remaining $22 million in work out of reserves and future budgets.

The proposed bond measure would cost the owner of a $322,300 home an estimated $180 more per year in taxes, the Daily Herald reports.

If the referendum is approved, the district plans to use $43.9 million to make improvements to its elementary schools, which would include the majority of funding going to capital projects at all schools with the additional funding going toward secured entries and library learning centers. Another $16.6 million will be spent on a new early learning center. Just over $81 million would be spent on middle schools and another $13 million would go to high school improvements, which would include updates to the Wheaton-Warrenville South library and to the Wheaton North High School’s technology lab.

You can get more detailed information on the updates below.

To plan for the future, the Board also approved Policy 4.152 at Wednesday’s meeting. The resolution calls for the Board to utilize a research-based model that forecasts and calculates capital renewal costs over the life of a building. While the Board has maintained a Capital Development planning tool for several years, the resolution makes a commitment to continue maintenance of the capital projects document and also budget annually for these projects, according to school officials.

More information can also be found on the District 200 website:

• projects contained in the overall plan including costs and implementation schedule
• bond financing structure