The Naperville District 203 School Board is expected to vote later this month on spending nearly $7 million on repairs to several of its buildings, though the number of identified projects exceeds the funds available.
District officials have been budgeting $7 million on capital projects each year since fall 2024. Prior to that, the district had spent about $6 million per year.
“Districts our size with 23 buildings are expensive to maintain,” said Michael Frances, the district’s chief financial officer. “It’s a complicated process. There’s lots of different things to keep our facilities operating in peak condition.”
Inflation and rising costs for labor and materials have been a challenge, officials said.
In 2025, the district replaced a chiller at Beebe Elementary School for a cost of about $542,000, said Melanie Brown, the district’s director of building and grounds.
This past summer, a chiller replacement project at Highlands Elementary School was about $626,000, a 15.5% increase even though it was the same equipment and the same contractor, she said.
The board will be asked to vote Oct. 19 on the 2027-28 project proposals.
Among the 14 projects on the list include replacing windows and doors at Connections, galvanized piping and roof projects at Elmwood Elementary School, air conditioning and air handling units at Jefferson Junior High School and Steeple Run Elementary School, track resurfacing at Naperville Central High School and a new playground for Maplebrook Elementary School.
The district has identified more than $14 million in work that needs to be done, but is postponing several projects to future years so that the work falls within the $7 million allotted budget.
Postponing projects has a cumulative effect, district officials said.
The district has prepared a five-year capital improvement plan to forecast facility needs.
By 2031-32, the work that will need to be done is anticipated to total about $40.5 million, Brown said. District officials are looking at what needs are the most pressing versus what can be done down the line, she said.
“What is the most urgent need and what can we make repairs to get us through to the next budget cycle,” Brown said. “So it’s really a delicate balance. Sometimes we hit it and sometimes we don’t.”
Plans can change, she said, citing work necessary two years ago to replace the Lincoln Junior High School boiler ahead of schedule.
Keeping within the $7 million budget is becoming more challenging, Superintendent Dan Bridges said.
Deferring maintenance comes at a greater cost, he said.
The district is continuing to seek grants or alternative funding methods, and district administration could look at upping the annual allocation dedicated to maintenance projects, Bridges said. However, the district has financial constraints, he said.
Board members questioned how some projects, such as Naperville Central’s track resurfacing or a new playground, receive priority over something such as a roof replacement.
The district has a rotation policy for its playgrounds, which typically have a lifespan of about 20 years. The Maplebrook playground is 24 or 25 years old, Brown said.
The Naperville Central track was last resurfaced in 2017 and patching is no longer a viable option, she said.
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“We are at a point in certain areas where we are down to the asphalt,” Brown said. “We are able to repair roof areas. There’s not a lot of repair that is available right now for the track.”
In the last five years, the district has spent about $32 million on building improvements, with a third of that going towards replacing roofs, windows and doors.
About $8.8 million was spent on heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and nearly $1.4 million on plumbing systems and replacing galvanized pipes.
In the last five years, the district has spent about $2.6 million updating athletic facilities and $2.4 million replacing playgrounds.
If the board approves the latest funding request, the projects will go out for bids in the winter with work starting next summer, Brown said.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.