District presents multi‑phase West High campus plan; staff flags fund‑balance option to accelerate work

District staff and consultants presented a multi‑phase facility plan for West Aurora High School on Oct. 6 that would reconfigure athletic fields, add several hundred parking spaces in stages, upgrade stadium lighting and visitor facilities, and start a districtwide classroom modernization study.

Associate Superintendent Dr. Angie Smith described a phased approach over 2026–27. "What we're gonna talk about tonight is some projects that we think might merit that conversation, because they don't fit in neatly to what we believe is our normal capital budgets," she said. Staff identified near‑term items that they propose to phase: grading land south of a neighboring house to create a JV softball field (to be allowed to settle through a season), a flag‑football practice field, and about 106 additional parking spaces north of that area. Phase‑3 work in 2027 would add roughly another 120 parking spaces on the east side of the building and construct visitor restrooms and storage at Ormond Stadium.

Dr. Smith presented preliminary cost estimates and said the district could fit some projects into a routine capital budget but that the full set of recommendations could require withdrawing from fund balances to begin work on schedule. "You're looking potentially in '26 at about $2,600,000," she said, adding a further fall 2026 estimate and additional 2027 costs would be reflected in subsequent budgets. Chief business staff (Mr. Abrahamson) explained the district's measure of fund balance: "A day of fund balance is equal to $650," he said, which district staff used to frame how many days of reserves exist and what could be prudently spent.

Representatives from Studio GC outlined a classroom modernization framework to inventory buildings by era, develop research‑driven baselines for "spatial agility" and recommend a 5–10 year implementation plan. That effort would assess lighting, acoustics, furniture and storage and propose upgrades by building or by clustered grade levels. Pat from Studio GC said the study would yield options for phased implementation and cost estimates to bring back to the board.

Board members asked detailed questions about timing, the potential effect on neighborhood parking and traffic, whether stadium lighting fixtures could be repurposed, and how self‑contained special education spaces would be addressed in modernization planning. No capital project received final construction approval at the meeting; staff said individual projects would be brought back to the board for separate approvals once designs and budgets are complete.