With early voting already underway, residents are heading to the polls to cast their decision on the $275 million building bond referendum from Yorkville School District 115.

The referendum on Tuesday’s primary ballot is for new and expanded school buildings to help better fit the district’s booming student population that has been far outpacing the investment in larger classrooms.

Superintendent Matt Zediker has called the overcrowding “unsustainable.” Other district officials have said classrooms are currently “bursting at the seams.”

If approved by voters, the $275 million in bonds will be combined with $20 million in the district’s reserves to construct a new middle school and a new elementary school.

A new academic wing is planned for the high school, enabling all the students at the Freshman Academy to be moved into the one main high school building. The plan also converts a current elementary school into an early childhood center.

The funds would also be used for a new performing arts center and an athletic field house located outside the high school for a combined price of $60 million.

Changing the calculus a little bit, the district could soon be the recipient of $68,250,000 from the city in funds collected from up-front payments from the developers of the Project Cardinal data center and the Project Steel data center.

The money is still subject to full final approval on both projects.

Zediker said the funds will “drastically reduce” the tax burden on homeowners and property owners. He said the language on the March 17 ballot will remain the same in spite of the cash influx.

Zediker said the money is only earmarked for new buildings, remodeling or upgrading current facilities.

“Classes are being taught in hallways and other programming is taking place in inadequate spaces,” Zediker said during the State of the District last September. “We have special ed classes held in math classrooms that don’t have proper accessibility to bathrooms. We’re not able to offer all the extracurricular activities our kids and families want.”

To help accommodate the classroom capacity crisis, the district constructed for $3.9 million temporary classroom structures outside four elementary schools.

School district officials have even gone to City Council to oppose new residential developments to help slow the rate of student enrollment growth.

In fashioning the facility master plan, the district went on a tour engaging the public and gathering feedback on what new buildings they wanted to most see built. Zediker said this is where the inclusion of the new performing arts center and athletic field house was born.

“We simply do not have the resources to invest in our infrastructure to make the necessary upgrades to overcome our overcrowding challenges,” Zediker said during a City Council meeting. “It is beginning to hamper the ability for us to provide the education opportunities and experiences that our kids and families deserve.”

If voters reject the proposal

If the referendum fails to gain approval on Tuesday, the district can take a second swing at in on the November general election ballot.

Zediker said the district would examine why the first ballot failed and down-size it come November. This would most likely mean a similar expansion plan would be on the ballot minus the performing arts center and the athletic field house.

During a City Council meeting, Alderman Chris Funkhouser expressed skepticism about the town’s appetite for the costly performing arts center and athletic field house, calling their inclusion a “100% wish list” by the district.

Yorkville 115 Board Member Darren Crawford spoke at a City Council meeting saying he did not support the referendum and thinks there are less expensive solutions to the district’s classroom capacity crisis. He did not explain in detail his proposed solutions.

Zediker said given the student population growth showing no signs of slowing in the upcoming years, it’s still imperative to pass the referendum on March 17 to have the students using the new buildings by the fall of 2028.

If the referendum was approved instead in November, students would not be able to use the new buildings until the fall of 2029.

Enrollment has tripled in the past 20 years, with another 800 students expected to be added to the already squeezed classrooms, according to the district’s demographer.

The demographer projected the new buildings will provide space for the next 12 to 15 years before more classrooms will be needed again.

For residents without students in the district, Zediker said the increased property values for everybody in the community is always a nice bonus.

If the referendum passes the first go-round, shovels will be in the ground as early as this fall.