Community Support: Naperville Sun

School District 203 building referendum endorsed

February 3, 2008

Naperville School District 203 goes into Tuesday's referendum for schools renovation and new construction with at least two groups of indeterminate size opposing its proposal.

One is folks who still carry residual resentment of the successful 2002 referendum that raised the education tax rate and who may or may not intend to extract revenge on the district by opposing this measure. Many of these also say the district has enough money in its "overcollection" of funds from
that referendum to do what it needs to do and should use those funds to do their improvements instead of asking for more money. And, in point of fact, the district has accumulated considerable funds from various means, including but not limited to those referendum proceeds, which helps to make the money it has decided to seek now less than it might have been otherwise.

The second group concerned about the referendum comprises those who think that the district should have gone further in its plans and, instead of renovating Naperville Central High School, chosen to tear it down and build a whole new school - at about twice the cost of the renovation plan.

THE ISSUE: School District 203 residents will be faced on Tuesday with a referendum seeking funds to renovate Naperville Central High School, build an early learning center and carry out repairs and renovations at other schools.

OUR VIEW: We endorse this as necessary to maintain and upgrade district facilities and we urge its passage. While we have some sympathy for both those points of view, in the end we find neither compelling as a reason to vote against the referendum proposition.

Doing nothing to improve facilities at this time is not a reasonable option in a district where residents hold the quality of education in high esteem. Good facilities are part and parcel of that, and we believe that the district has an obligation to do its part in providing those. Our editors have toured Naperville Central High School, the biggest and most contentious project involved, and find its condition to be such that it needs renovation, modernization and plain old-fashioned repairs. We believe the
plans to do so to be reasonable.

As for razing Central and rebuilding somewhere else, in district surveys residents clearly rejected that extravagant option and we think that in renovating the current Central High the district has chosen the wisest course.

The district also has in its plans an early childhood center. Currently, the district now has these classes spread throughout five schools, putting children as young as three in elementary schools. If it gets to build the center, it will only be doing what District 204 has done, bringing everything into one place with appropriately sized classrooms, and this will provide a more appropriate educational setting for the special needs students served.

The other additions and renovations to overcrowded Mill Street School, to Naperville North High School, and to other schools are sound as well.

These are not Taj Mahal proposals, nor, as detractors have claimed, wishes instead of needs.

The referendum request on the Feb. 5 ballot is for $43 million, far less than the district-calculated $114.9 million total cost. The property tax increase for an average-priced house would be about $82 a year for a period of 20 years.

Some district detractors undoubtedly will debate the numbers on all this until the cows come home, but we are satisfied that the district has put together a reasonable proposition that fits the needs of District 203 students, and we endorse this proposal.

Public education needs public support and none of these renovations, additions and repairs are going to get any cheaper as time goes by.

We urge a "yes" vote for District 203's building proposition on Tuesday.