District 200 will put $151.5 million plan to modernize middle schools up to voters

Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 has proposed a renovation of the Library Learning Center at Franklin Middle School. Concept art shows flexible furniture in a newly redesigned LLC.
Courtesy of Perkins&Will

Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 will seek voter approval of a $151.5 million funding plan for significant upgrades and renovations to its three oldest middle schools.

The school board has decided to ask voters in November to allow the district to issue bonds to pay for major projects at Edison, Franklin and Monroe middle schools.

Those schools originally were built in the 1950s and 60s. Officials say the existing science labs are outdated and too small. Locker rooms and bathrooms are original. Mechanical systems are aging. Music rooms do not provide enough space or, in some cases, appropriate sound barriers. In addition, there are accessibility issues and safety concerns with limited sight lines in zigzagging school corridors.

“They’re just older buildings that haven’t had a substantial renovation in the way that our high schools or some of our elementaries have had,” Superintendent Jeff Schuler said.

With current debt expiring, there would still be a decrease in the district’s bond and interest portion of the property tax bill, regardless of the outcome in November.

If voters approve the request, the owner of a home valued at $403,700 — the median in the district — would see a tax decrease of approximately $71 based on two, 15-year debt issuances.

Should the measure fail, the district’s share of the property tax bill for that median homeowner would decrease by roughly $450 to $500 annually because of the retirement of existing debt.

“Very few districts are in a position to undertake work of this importance and magnitude without creating an adverse tax burden for the community,” school board member Erik Hjerpe said. “The fact that we’re positioned to do this in a tax-neutral to favorable manner versus the current tax situation that the average homeowner faces, I think, is a unique circumstance.”

All three middle schools would have newly renovated or relocated library learning centers and newly renovated science labs with movable furniture for small groups or direct instruction. Architects also worked to consolidate student wellness offices to foster staff collaboration and give students one place to go for physical or mental health support.

The district would build a performing arts addition to Franklin Middle School with new band, orchestra, choral and drama classrooms. The major new feature at Edison? An expansion of the main gymnasium.

The referendum plan also calls for a new performing arts wing at Monroe with music classrooms and an auditorium designed to mirror the one at Hubble Middle School.

“We’re taking care of high needs like performing arts,” Schuler said. “But we’re also addressing needs across the building, so mechanical system improvements, lights, ceilings, floors, classroom furniture, really addressing the environment across the entire building.”

The district previously sought to improve the middle schools as part of a broader request to borrow $132.5 million for projects at all but one of its campuses. Voters in 2017 turned down that plan, which would have resulted in a tax increase.

The board in 2017 set a policy to put at least $7 million per year into facility projects. A lot of that work “has focused on elementary and high school improvements,” Schuler said.

“We’re going to do it now at this economy of scale,” he said of the middle schools, “or we’re going to do it over the next … five, six, seven, eight years. It’s going to cost more if we don’t address it in one chunk.”

Board member Dave Long said the 2017 plan wasn’t “just dusted off.”

“There was a lot of pressure testing, a lot of iterations … I think we need to keep these schools modern and up to date,” he said. “We want to continue to be a destination district for families, for students and for staff.”