A $14.4 million bond referendum to expand the Middle School/High School Complex will come before the voters on Sept. 24.
The Board of Education voted to finalize the election date at its July 24 meeting.
Board President Ed Rittberg said the bond would have two questions, the first of which will deal exclusively with repairs for Clarendon and Huber Street elementary schools as well as expansion of classrooms and various repairs at the Middle School/High School Complex.
"I want to make it clear that the things being done are based on our long-ranged facility plan," Rittberg said.
The second question will allow voters to accept or reject additional plans for the construction of a 1,000-seat auditorium at the high school
While the district could expect a significant refund from the state through a program designed to help local school districts with capital needs, local taxpayers would have to pay most if not all of the $4 million cost of the auditorium.
The upgrades included in the first questions came as a result of a state-mandated long-range facilities plan. This was a list of facilities, equipment and enrollment projections the state required the school district to compile. This five-year plan includes and inventory of existing facility, enrollment projection and details of the condition of existing facilities, from the current age of heating system and pipes to when the last time a classroom has been painted. The plan was developed the school architect and engineer, with an eye on future enrollment. This also deals with the current condition of the schools, what will need to be renovated.
In June, the board originally estimated the cost of referendum at $13 million, and bonding costs hiked the final figure. While not depending up the state to reimburse money for new construction, school officials estimate they could get as much as 25 percent back of the first part of the bond.
"We figured roughly 25 percent," said Board Member Tom Troyer. "It could be 23 or 27 percent, we don’t know for sure."
Most of this refund would come from the new construction associated with providing classroom space and not from the auditorium.
Now’s the time
Troyer said the move to push for the referendum was based on the fear that this payback from the state would cease in the near future.
"If we don’t do it now, it might not be there in the future," Troyer said, although he also said he is not personally in favor of funding the auditorium.
"This is not because I don’t want a performance space," Troyer said. "I’ve wanted an arts center since 1980 at Lincoln Junior High School. But people are telling me we can’t afford it. I’m fearful that people would knock down the whole project if we didn’t have two questions."
In order to give voters a choice, the board will place repairs and some school expansion onto one ballot question for about $9 million and the auditorium on the other for $4 million.
At the same meeting, the Board of Education trimmed its meeting schedule, reducing the number of meetings to be held from now until December. The board, which normally meets on Thursday nights, changed several to Wednesday to accommodate a scheduling conflict by Board Member Michael Pesci. The board will meet on Aug. 28, Sept. 25, Oct. 30, Nov. 21, and Dec. 12. After the first of the year, the board will resume meeting twice a month on Thursdays.