Board hears master facility plan update; staff outlines priorities, community feedback and funding scenarios

District staff presented an update on the master facility plan, recapping the data-gathering and community-engagement phases and previewing project prioritization and funding scenarios.

Staff said the district gathered input and technical assessments over 2023–24, engaged more than 10,000 stakeholders through surveys and workshops, and used a good/better/best framework to evaluate immediate safety and compliance needs, capacity concerns and larger educational-enhancement projects. The presentation listed candidate projects including additions at Dundee-Crown High School and Hampton Middle School to reduce overcrowding, secure-entry upgrades, HVAC replacements, a centralized career and technical education center and targeted renovations.

On funding, staff said the district has roughly $62,000,000 available for capital projects and referenced an additional $35,000,000 in Community Development Block (CDB) funds pending state approval (staff explicitly said that amount is not guaranteed). Staff reviewed borrowing options — including non-referendum life-safety bonds, alternate bonds and referendum bonds — and cited an illustrative maximum referendum capacity figure discussed in the presentation of $212,700,000 by February 2028. Staff also mentioned a county school facility sales tax estimate of about $12,500,000 annually (noted as a potential and not committed source).

Board members asked for the next steps and for a prioritized good/better/best project list; staff said they will return with a deeper prioritization and a draft final plan in winter/early spring for board consideration and asked the board to finalize priorities and phasing for implementation planning.

No vote or final funding decision was recorded in this meeting; the master facility plan update was informational and staff said a deeper dive would return to the Operations Committee and the full board in the coming weeks.