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WESTMONT – Westmont School District 201 will bring a scaled-back facility improvement plan to election ballots this spring that includes a pricetag $6.7 million less than the referendum that voters shot down in November.
The District 201 School Board voted unanimously to pursue a third referendum request on April 7 election ballots that asks constituents permission to issue $19.7 million in bonds to address safety and access concerns. November's referendum carried a $26.4 million pricetag.
"The school board has listened to the community and this time around we are proposing to remove items that were not tightly focused on safety and security of the learning environments," District 201 School Board President Marie Charlton said in a phone interview earlier this month.
The new plan has a "reduced scope but [preserves] the integrity of the projects to address safety, security and learning environment needs of schools," according to district documents.
Officials removed several school improvements previously proposed in the referendums, including nixing a renovation of the pool at Westmont High School, a potential savings of $2.8 million.
Other changes from November's proposal include the elimination of a proposed visitors parking area at Manning Elementary School; a reduced renovation of the art/music room at Miller Elementary School; and the elimination of an HVAC and electrical renovation at Westmont Junior High.
Charlton has said the board is encouraged with the referendum results from November carrying into April.
That plan was rejected by voters 56 to 44 percent but garnered 34 more percentage points compared to a similar referendum in March 2014, which was overwhelmingly rejected 78 to 22 percent.
"We had such a great leap [in November] with a huge increase in the number of people supporting this," she said. "The first time the public didn't like the funding and last time there were questions on the necessity of some of the improvement projects. Now we're limiting those extra things."
Charlton said the school district will now plan informational meetings for the public, as well as create a new website.
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Project cost changes
• Manning Elementary
Previous cost of projects: $8.4 million
New cost: $8.2 million
• Miller Elementary
Previous cost of projects: $4.1 million
New cost: $3.8 million
• Westmont Junior High
Previous cost of projects: $5.3 million
New cost: $1.4 million
• Westmont High School
Previous cost of projects: $8.6 million
New cost: $6.8 million
Source: District 201