Indian Prairie School District 204 facility and construction staff presented a multi-year update on the district's Safer, Stronger 204 capital program during the Sept. 8 board meeting, summarizing completed summer work, upcoming projects and budget oversight.

Staff reported roughly $40,000,000 in capital work completed or underway during the summer, including secure vestibule construction at 11 elementary schools, auditorium renovations at Waubonsee Valley High School, playground replacements and a continuing program of elementary flooring replacements. The district said most summer projects were on schedule and on budget.

Why it matters: the referendum-funded capital program supports safety, energy-efficiency, accessibility and instructional spaces across the district. Facility leaders emphasized that all work aligns with the district's Master Facility Plan and the commitments in the voter-approved Safer, Stronger 204 referendum.

Key projects and timeline: the district plans secured vestibules at 11 additional buildings (elementary and middle schools), with five middle schools requiring main-office relocations to create secure entries. The three comprehensive high-school projects include Neuqua Valley, Waubonsee Valley and Metea Valley; planned work includes field-turf athletic surfaces at all three high schools, track replacement at Metea and Neuqua, and a larger stadium renovation at Waubonsee that will add accessible bleachers, upgraded restrooms, concessions and a new scoreboard.

Energy and sustainability work: the district is completing an LED lighting retrofit across buildings (12 buildings in progress, districtwide by 2026-27) and will issue an RFP to study rooftop solar feasibility and possible battery storage at selected sites. Staff said preliminary estimates indicate a payback in the mid single-digit years where incentives and roof conditions make solar viable and that dashboards will report actual usage and savings if projects proceed.

Community engagement and local participation: the district engaged construction managers, architects and contractors and described plans to host vendor fairs, QR-linked project dashboards, live progress photos and behind-the-fence student tours and internships. The district plans to prioritize local subcontractor participation and MWBE outreach during bid solicitation.

Budget and oversight: facility staff reiterated that the overall capital program budget is being tracked across nine separate projects (total referenced as $466,000,000 in program planning). For Waubonsee Valley, the board was shown phase-level budgets and a remaining contingency balance; staff said contingency releases can seed additional scope such as landscaping and tree planting as projects progress.

Next board actions: staff said they expect to bring an architectural contract for Hill Middle School design and other bid approvals for spring/summer 2026 construction in the coming months. The facilities team proposed semiannual reporting to the board, with fall and spring updates on schedule and budget.

Quotes: Matt Shipley (facilities): "All work that we've done is rooted in that [master facility] document." Peter Kean (construction manager): "We will create a project dashboard ... a one-stop shop for the community to access through your district website."

Ending note: board members praised the communication and community engagement plans and asked staff to continue transparency on sequencing, local vendor outreach, solar feasibility and the semiannual reporting cadence.