Thinking about summer as freezing temperatures return to the Aurora area? So is Indian Prairie School District 204. On Monday, the Indian Prairie school board approved over $7 million in capital projects set to be completed over the summer.
Monday’s board vote approved bids for several projects at schools across the district.
The list includes more than $3 million in flooring replacements, around $2.1 million in paving work, just under $1.5 million in roofing and gutter repairs and around $600,000 to install four new playgrounds, according to the recommendations offered to the school board.
Wondering if your school is part of this wave of repairs? Here’s the breakdown:
Brooks Elementary, Steck Elementary, Welch Elementary and Prairie Children Preschool will all have their playgrounds replaced, according to the district.
Brooks, Georgetown, Kendall, McCarty, Owen and Springbrook elementary schools will have their floors – excluding their gyms – replaced. Clow, Graham, Peterson, Longwood, White Eagle and Young elementary schools will be getting replacements for their gym floors – and, for some, their stages and multi-purpose rooms.
Steck will be getting a new roof, and Neuqua Valley High School will have its gutters replaced. And McCarty Elementary, Welch Elementary and Neuqua Valley are set to have paving work done.
The projects are expected to be completed in time for the first day of next school year, according to school officials. They said the district is arranging alternative locations for summer programs set to take place at some of the schools getting repairs, mainly those receiving major flooring overhauls.
And officials said they were pleased with the price tag for the work.
“The last several years have been interesting (for) bidding projects because of the economy and inflation and the uncertainty and the labor,” District 204 Director of Building Operations John Robinson told The Beacon-News on Tuesday.
“Things have really calmed down this year,” he said, noting that bids for the projects came in more than $1 million under their predicted budget.
Some of the money to fund these capital improvements is coming from the 2024 budget, and the rest from the 2025 budget, since the projects are taking place across both fiscal years, according to the district’s Chief Business Officer Matt Shipley.
These repairs are being funded as a result of the passage of a referendum question in November by district voters, who approved the district’s proposal to sell $420 million in bonds for facilities updates.
The district planned to do $40 million worth of improvements this upcoming summer, according to past reporting, with a focus on safety and security upgrades. They also indicated that comprehensive renovations for some of the district’s oldest schools – such as Waubonsie Valley High School and Gregory and Hill middle schools – were a priority.
The sale of the bonds is gradual and will happen in rounds through 2029. The funds cannot go toward day-to-day operational costs.
Had the November measure failed, the district would have still needed to undertake some of these projects. Officials said they might have needed to cut the equivalent of 50 full-time positions, according to past reporting.
“This summer is … the first summer after the successful referendum, so it’s been many years of planning in the making,” Shipley told The Beacon-News on Tuesday.
Renovations are being done over time based on where they are needed the most. The current playgrounds being replaced, for example, are 20 to 37 years old, according to Monday’s meeting agenda, and do not meet current Americans with Disabilities Act and safety standards.
According to Shipley and Robinson, there is one more wave of work planned for the summer, which is expected to be voted on at the school board’s March 10 meeting. It includes improving security at 11 elementary schools’ front entrances, and renovating Waubonsie Valley High School’s auditorium
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com
