Deerfield Public Schools District 109 will be presenting plans for a referendum to build two new school buildings and renovate two existing schools later this month, Superintendent Michael Simeck said during Tuesday’s board meeting.
The plan as presented would have Walden and Wilmot Elementary getting new buildings and Kipling and South Park Elementary being renovated, Simeck said, with the middle schools getting “targeted renovations.”
Planning goes back several months, with a 32-person task force comprising board members, staff, community partners, and district parents meeting three times over the Spring and Summer to tour the existing facilities and review options.
Of three general approaches — doing nothing, holding a referendum for renovations only, and a referendum for construction and renovations — Simeck said the task force recommended “Plan A,” or “2+2,” with two new buildings and two renovated ones.
The board will discuss the referendum during a July 14 Committee of the Whole meeting, and a comprehensive presentation will be made at the July 24 Board of Education meeting. The presentation will include details of master facilities planning and task force processes, facility challenges, the proposed solution, tax impact, construction timeline, and the community engagement plan.
The community will also be surveyed and polled in the Fall, Simeck said, to get feedback from families. Simeck’s comments did not include any estimates of how much money the construction and renovations would cost.
