Schools
D65 School Board Member Proposes Second Referendum
The $20 million bond issuance referendum would fund additions to Haven and Nichols.
At least one District 65 School Board member favors addressing district capacity problems through a second bond issuance referendum, according to an Evanston Review article.
At Monday night’s school board meeting, Board Member Andrew Pigozzi called for the district to fund additions to Haven and Nichols middle schools through a $20 million dollar bond issuance referendum that would appear on the ballot during November’s presidential election.
The district’s included money for these additions, but also asked for $21 million for the construction of a and $8 million for repairs to Bessie Rhodes, King Lab and Chute.
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District capacity concerns stem from a pair of five-year enrollment projections that estimate the D65 student population will grow by somewhere between 200 and 1,100 students by the 2016-17 school year. In order to maintain its class-size guidelines, the district would have to build new classroom space to accommodate this swell.
But other district capital projects require immediate attention, as well, and even basic repairs and maintenance to D65 school buildings will seemingly soon put the district in a difficult financial position.
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D65 estimates it will spend $9.7 million this summer on roofing repairs, masonry mending, locker replacements, storage shed installations and various other district needs, according to a document in Monday night’s meeting packet.
Add to this amount to projected capital improvement costs of $10.3 million over the following two summers, and the district will have only just under $5 million remaining in the amount of debt service it can levy though 2030.
“There is an amount that we are allowed to levy on an annual basis for debt service extension base, and it’s formulaic,” said Pat Markham, director of communications for District 65, Tuesday morning. “It has something to do with how much outstanding debt we have and what our total debt service extension base ceiling is. … It’s very complicated.”
If the district uses a large chunk of this money over the next three summers, it will leave very little for building repairs and equipment replacement over the following decade.
“It means that we can’t address anything but emergencies without additional dollars,” Markham said.
The next District 65 School Board meeting is scheduled for April 23.
