Leaders of Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 expect construction to start next summer on more than $89 million in capital improvements to buildings in the elementary school district after unofficial ballot counts indicate voters approved the district’s referendum.
According to the Cook County Clerk’s unofficial results from the Nov. 5 election, about 65% of voters who live in the Niles-based school district voted “yes” to the binding ballot referendum: “Shall the Board of Education of Park Ridge-Niles Community Consolidated School District Number 64, Cook County, Illinois, alter, repair and equip existing buildings, build and equip additions thereto and improve school sites, including but not limited to improving safety and security; replacing roofs, plumbing, electrical systems, HVAC and air quality systems; updating classrooms and science labs; installing energy-efficient improvements; increasing accessibility under the Americans with Disabilities Act; and adding space for special education; and issue bonds of said School District to the amount of $89,106,629 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?”
About 35% rejected the referendum.
“We were thrilled to see the community support this referendum to keep our schools safe and maintained,” SD64 Superintendent Ben Collins told Pioneer Press the day after the election. “The upgrades to our buildings will provide much improved learning and teaching environments for students and staff. Our community takes great pride in our school system, and we look forward to our commitment to maintaining these public buildings for years and generations to come.”
The district enrolls more than 4,500 students in grades pre-K to 8, across eight schools: One pre-K center, and two middle and five K to 5 schools. The schools are located in Niles and Park Ridge.
Collins said the district will immediately begin planning for construction to start in summer 2025. He explained that a home in the school district valued at $500,000 can expect to see a property tax increase of $411 annually for the next 25 years as part of the bond issuance approved in this referendum.
“Nobody wants to see their taxes go up,” he said, “but the community deserves to know the truth about the situation that we’re in. Our schools are not in good shape at all. We’re faced with unnecessary spending on emergency repairs, plumbing and water because our buildings’ average age is 75 years old with three of our buildings over 97 years old.”
Heaping praise on the north suburbs where the schools are located, Jeanne Robert, co-president of the parent teacher organization at George Carpenter Elementary School in Park Ridge, said the school buildings need some work.
“This referendum will strengthen our schools and give the district the resources that it needs to make them safe,” she told Pioneer Press. “This is the time to do these vital improvements. … Our educational facilities need it, our community deserves it.”
Robert said she feels district leaders have been mindful of residents’ concerns about costs.
“It started at $146 million and they brought it down to $89.1 million. That’s a lot of care and consideration to what the district needs and what’s important,” Robert said. “I’m glad they’re respectful and conscious of our dollars and what needs to happen to move forward and into the future.”
Collins, who joined the district in July 2023, said he hosted 65 informational sessions about the referendum since last April. He called his message to stakeholders honest, transparent and data driven.
“The cost for maintaining [the buildings in their current state] is really going to overwhelm our budget,” said Collins, “and it’s certainly going to get dire every year.”
One of the most-needed improvements, he said, is at the 96-year-old Lincoln Middle School which has outdated plumbing, HVAC, roofing, lighting, interior doors and flooring.
The district has found asbestos in much of the building’s infrastructure, and many of the instructional spaces are outdated. All of the school buildings need significant infrastructure improvements, according to the superintendent.
A number one concern from parents he spoke to, he said, is safety – noting especially that classroom doors don’t work in a lock-down situation. The cost of upgrading all of the doors and frames is $2.3 million, he said.
To ensure the district doesn’t go to referendum again for capital improvements, Collins said he and his team have drafted a 30-year capital facility plan that outlines an annual replacement life cycle for all things mechanical. This includes replacing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system every 25 years, and replacing the roof every 15 years, among other plans.
The improvement plan also includes three small building additions at Franklin and Eugene Field elementary schools where some classes – including math and speech – had to be taught in the hallways due to a lack of space.
Collins said all of the improvement plans have been designed but still need to go through the approval process with the city of Park Ridge.
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelancer.
