It’s a staggering number?”$58.8 million. Especially when compared with numbers originally thrown around during the period when an ad-hoc committee first explored the concept of either renovating or replacing Riverside-Brookfield High School.
Eventually, that committee recommended renovation not replacement, but the total cost was pegged at half of what the District 208 school board is now asking voters for. We imagine that it took voters of District 208 some time to recover from that first shock.
Since that time, however, we feel District 208 officials have passionately and convincingly stated their case for the proposed $58.8 referendum to renovate the school, provide more classrooms and science labs; replace the school’s physical plant, plumbing and electrical systems; and, yes, expand and improve the school’s athletic facilities.
First, to address the belief that the renovation concentrates the bulk of its attention on athletic facilities and parking, which don’t have anything to do with academic performance.
The fact is, that while the district is planning on spending a great deal of money on a new gym, a new swimming pool and a parking deck, those do not account for nearly a majority of the spending.
The district has clearly broken down the expected costs for those items. The new gym accounts for 8 percent of the total budget for the renovation. The new pool accounts for 6 percent of the renovation, while resurfacing the football field with an artificial surface accounts for 3 percent. The parking deck accounts for 4 percent. All of those added together account for 21 percent of the total budget.
The rest of the project?”79 percent of the renovation?”addresses the education and education-related needs of a school moving well into the 21st century.
A whopping 42 percent of the renovation will address campus-wide issues relating to the school’s physical plant and includes life safety repairs such as sprinklers, a fire alarm system, and upgrades to aging plumbing and electrical systems.
Yes, the new physical plant calls for air-conditioning the school. Why is this considered some sort of luxury in the year 2006? Why wouldn’t we want our children to be able to go to school and concentrate on learning in an environment where classrooms are cool in August’s 85-plus temperatures and the heating system is consistent and efficient?
New classrooms, including 14 new science labs and computer labs will provide the type of education that students need. Students in 2006 take more math, more science?”simply more classes?”than their forebearers did. If we want students to be competitive in an ever more complex and competitive world marketplace, then we have to give them tools to succeed in high school. That includes the ability for more hands on computer and science courses.
With respect to the athletic facilities, RB officials are not asking for more than they need. Anyone who has children in the school or just has children in our communities can tell you that the school is used from morning till night?”not just by students themselves, but by a multitude of community organizations.
Brookfield, Riverside and LaGrange Park are virtually devoid of any athletic facilities that residents can take advantage of. Public pools, basketball courts?”heck a large indoor space?”are virtually unheard of in these towns. The high school?”for better or worse, and through no fault of its own?”is the community center for the residents of the district.
Beyond that, more room for athletics means more efficient and varied physical education offerings that will be taken by every single student in the high school. Yes, they are athletic spaces?”but they are also classroom spaces, used every school day, all day.
Many are worried that the district officials will end up overspending on the renovation and will be operating without oversight. Perhaps the most important decision the district has made?”one that in our estimation proves their judgment and commitment to openness?”has been the creation of a citizens committee that will oversee the project during its entire length.
Many of those on the committee are professionals who have specific experience in large-scale construction projects and dealing with contractors. That members of the RB board and administration have set aside their egos in order to create that committee is a testament to their seriousness and commitment, not to building a monument to themselves, but creating a 21st-century high school worthy of the communities the district serves.