District 231 Engaging Community in Capital Projects Discussions

As a stakeholder of what’s a greater priority? A new football field? Vamped up science labs? How about removing asbestos from the auditorium?

Discussions of the district’s possible capital improvement projects began Thursday but are far from finished. The trouble is, board members don’t yet have all the facts in front of them.

After reviewing financial forecasts, however, staff members estimated that a new athletic turf field could reasonably cost upwards of $1 million, whereas a rehabbed auditorium and gym that included a new HVAC could be nearly $1.3 million. The money, they said, could be drawn from the life-safety, operations and maintenance or working cash funds.

Meanwhile, the extent of possible classroom repairs was simply too early to ballpark.

A special meeting was scheduled April 10, for which Superintendent M. Elizabeth Hart was asked to present more information and, in the case of athletics, invite experts who could speak about their experiences with different types of turf.

Initial thoughts on a six-year capital projects plan ranged from the dialectic to the impassioned, lasting about an hour.

Board president Raymond Trzeciak used “atrocious” to describe both the current football field and the science classrooms, noting of the former, “I don’t want to put a football field out there in the fall—not with the field we have today.”

He found sympathy in Ray Mankowski, an assistant football coach and head track coach for the district, who described the field—which is used also by soccer, baseball and track teams—as “horrible.”

Options were floated during the board meeting to “band-aid” the football field, but Hart said that was done last year without much success.

Though a report earlier in the night shone a very favorable light on ACT scores, on the issue of science labs Trzeciak added: “Granted, some kids are not going to be scientists when they leave Evergreen Park, but we’re not giving them a fair shot, guys … and I don’t want this school to be second place to anybody.”

Despite whether athletics or academics should take precedent, the board agreed much more information was needed to determine the fate of millions of dollars. In terms of giving administrators some direction before resuming the conversation, board secretary Christopher Trzeciak said two measurements should be taken into consideration above all else: safety and education.

Asbestos in the walls of the auditorium, he noted, though not harmful if left undisturbed, “is a real concern.” It’s been there “a long time,” he said, “and frankly if we don’t (get rid of) it now, someone in the not-too-distant future is going to have to.”

Hart said she would also reach out to science teachers to hear where exactly repairs were needed.

Lauren Schulte, a student ambassador to the board, said it was likely a matter of replacing old equipment, but noted that she had no experience in other science classrooms for comparison.

Hart noted that these specific projects are merely part of a wish-list of projects and that the district has only committed next year to certain bathroom renovations.

To have the luxury to debate is testament to a financially solid district, Ray Trzeciak said, because “there’s a lot of schools that wish they had our problems.”

Updated at 2:23 p.m.