North Shore District 112 is moving toward a $150 million borrowing plan in April that would mostly fund its school consolidation plan, officials said Thursday night, but there’s still much work yet to be done.
At Thursday night’s school board meeting, architectural consultants presented refined cost estimates on the plan to reconfigure and reduce the district’s school buildings from 12 to seven. The linchpin of that plan is the construction of a new middle school campus on the current Red Oak and Sherwood elementary school site.
Previous estimates had put the projected cost at about $219 million – the cheapest of the options considered, but still beyond the district’s funding capacity. Don McKay, principal for the architectural firm Nagle Hartray, presented reductions on Thursday to bring the project closer to $190 million, the maximum funding capacity.
The school board likely will vote on whether to place $150 million bond referendum on the April ballot at its Jan. 15 meeting, officials said. The district would make up the $40 million difference over time, in part, with operational savings and sale of property.
Recent community engagement meetings have provided school officials with some level of confidence, said school board Vice President Michael Cohn.
More Top Picks Best Standing Desks For Students
“Overall, community members have come out and said they’re interested,” Cohn said after the meeting. “So we’re moving forward.”
If a $150 million bond referendum were approved by voters, the impact on a $600,000 home would be a property tax increase of about $600, according to information posted on the district website. But that number would increase annually to reflect inflation and new property growth.
In recent weeks, the district held five community meetings to explain the project and gather feedback. Surveys of people who attended those meetings showed overwhelming support for the seven-school model compared to other options, said district spokeswoman Andi Rosen.
But school board members acknowledged there were still many questions yet to be answered, including further reduction of the total project costs, the location of the early childhood education programs and whether the district can afford an auditorium for its middle school campus.
Chris Lee, mother of two children who attend Lincoln Elementary School, said the sheer size of the grades at the middle school campus gave her and other parents pause.
Those new middle schools — one for grades 5-6, and the other for grades 7-8 – would be built to serve about 1,000 students each, officials have said.
“Just logistical questions – 500 kids in a grade, 1,000 kids in a building – are of big concern to me,” Lee said.
There’s also the issue of whether to close Ravinia or Braeside elementary school. Braeside is on the National Register of Historic Places, McKay said.
In the plan, five existing schools would be renovated to serve kindergarten through fourth grade: Edgewood, Indian Trail, Northwood, Oak Terrace, Northwood/Wayne Thomas and either Braeside or Ravinia.
McKay said his team would further study the question of closing Ravinia or Braeside and bring more information back to the school board.
The school board took two actions Thursday night in preparation of a possible April referendum. Board members voted to request legislative assistance in extending the duration of payments to 30 years instead of the typical 20-year time frame.
The school board also voted to approve paying $22,500, plus reimbursement for travel expenses, to extend the contract for Reingold Link, a Washington, D.C.-based communications firm that assisted the district with its recent community meetings.
Reingold Link services will continue to assist the district with community engagement through Jan. 20, according to board documents.
School Board President Bruce Hyman was absent at the meeting.