Unofficial results from DuPage and Will counties show voters in Tuesday’s general election were widely in favor of Indian Prairie School District 204’s proposal to sell $420 million in bonds to improve its facilities, and district Superintendent Adrian Talley said these results show voters’ trust and belief in the school system.
“It reflects that they believe in us and what we are doing, and believe that we are good stewards of the funding that they give us,” he told The Beacon-News on Wednesday.
In the DuPage County portion of Indian Prairie School District 204, 75.87% of voters were in favor of the proposal and 24.13% were against it, according to unofficial results on Wednesday. In the Will County portion, 70.62% of voters were in favor of the proposal and 29.38% were against it, unofficial results show.
The bonds are set to be paid for using a continuation of an existing 37-cent property tax per $100 of equalized assessed value that would otherwise expire at the end of 2026, meaning that voters’ apparent approval of the bonds would effectively keep the tax rate flat, according to past reporting.
Funds from the bond issue would go to pay for improvements to school safety, deferred maintenance projects and making operations more efficient, among other things, with projects that would touch all 33 of the district’s schools, past reporting shows. Talley said on Wednesday that the funds set up Indian Prairie School District for the next 50 years with schools that are safe, secure and up to date.
“I think what is so important is the fact that we will start this work come this summer, and starting with safety and security,” he said. “That will demonstrate how fast we’re able to really move out on some of the things we’ve been wanting to do.”
Now that voters have seemingly approved the sale of up to $420 million in bonds, Indian Prairie School District’s Chief Business Officer Matt Shipley is set to present the work that is expected to be completed in summer 2025 using bond funds, along with the process of selling the bonds, at the next district Board of Education meeting, according to Talley.
According to past reporting, the district plans to do $40 million worth of construction projects in summer 2025, of which $10 million is set to go toward safety and security upgrades like building secure school entrances and upgrading external doors.
Safety and security improvements would be the district’s highest priority when using bond funds, officials previously said.
Other than safety and security upgrades, which are expected to be completed by the end of summer 2026, the bonds would also go to fund a variety of other school-related construction and maintenance projects, with some schools receiving total overhauls and others receiving relatively more minor work, past reporting shows.
Talley said on Wednesday that the bond funds would also help to bring equity to the district by bringing some of the district’s oldest schools, such as Waubonsie Valley High School and Gregory and Hill middle schools, closer to the level of other schools in the district. These older schools are expected to get “comprehensive improvements,” which means total renovations and a slew of other work, according to a voter information sheet posted to the district’s website.
Even with apparent approval by voters, the district would not receive the $420 million right away. District staff have previously said that the first round of bonds would likely be sold before the end of the year, with plans to do additional rounds of sales in 2025, 2027 and 2029.
None of the funds that come from the sale of bonds can go toward day-to-day operational costs, like salaries or programs.
However, since many of the projects that would be funded by the bonds would increase efficiency and lower recurring costs, funds would be freed up that could go toward hiring additional teachers and reducing class sizes, district officials have previously said.
If voters shot down the referendum question, the district would have still needed to pay for some of these projects, which would have been paid for in part by cutting the equivalent of 50 full-time positions, according to past reporting. Talley previously said these cuts would have impacted class sizes and programs.
rsmith@chicagotribune.com