Park Ridge District 64 seeks voter approval Nov. 5 for $referendum to repair aging schools

An unnamed superintendent for Park Ridge CCSD 64 told the community the district will ask voters on Nov. 5, 2024, to approve a referendum to address critical facility needs in nearly every school. The district said proceeds would be restricted to building repairs, health and safety upgrades, and mechanical and infrastructure improvements — not programming or salaries.

The superintendent argued the district's schools are old, with an average age of 75 years and several schools — Lincoln, Roosevelt and Field — “approaching 100.” The district cited equipment failures and safety issues as examples of the urgency: in August, two-thirds of Roosevelt’s condensing coils failed and staff improvised by using a garden sprinkler to prevent a full system failure on one of the hottest days of the year. The superintendent also said some boys’ bathrooms have plumbing that causes urinals to flush continuously, costing taxpayers more than $30,000 a year, and reported crumbling ADA railings and asbestos that must be addressed.

The presentation stressed that the referendum would not fund salaries or classroom programming. “All of the money would go right back into our buildings to protect our students and staff,” the superintendent said. The district also emphasized past investments to show fiscal stewardship: it said it invested $38,000,000 in constructing full-day kindergarten additions and issued $10,000,000 in bonds for a phase 1 project at Lincoln that addressed foundation, plumbing and drainage repairs and created space for self-contained autism programs.

Explaining how the district arrived at the current condition, the superintendent acknowledged decades of deferred maintenance: the district previously directed limited resources toward classroom instruction and services, which left building systems in need of renewal. To address that, the speaker said the district has drafted a long-term capital plan outlining how it would budget significant projects across schools for the next 30 years if the referendum passes; that plan is available on the district website, the superintendent said.

The superintendent closed by urging community support, repeating the district’s framing: “Protect our buildings, protect our children, preserve our future.” The referendum will appear on the ballot Nov. 5, 2024; the district encourages voters to review the long-term plan posted on its website for details on proposed projects and budgeting.