$2 million would go to HVAC, roofing, asbestos removal, debt financing

By Kyle Troutman [email protected]

The Wheaton school district has proposed a no-tax-increase bond issue on the April 7 ballot, aiming to address aging infrastructure while freeing up general funds for operations use.

Chris Paullus, Wheaton superintendent said the measure, titled Proposition Critical Infrastructure, focuses on both facility improvements and financial restructuring.

“It’s a $2 million no-tax increase issue,” he said. “The biggest things are we are going to refinance some debt, moving it into our debt fund and out of our operating fund, and then pay for HVAC upgrades, pay for some roofing improvements, and then do a few other smaller ancillary things.”

In addition to major upgrades, Paullus said the district plans to address lingering safety concerns and, if funding allows, make additional improvements.

“We’ve got a little bit of asbestos still on campus, so we’ll take care of that problem,” Paullus said. “And then if anything’s left, possibly do some playground upgrades or maybe some athletic upgrades.”

The need for roofing work is driven largely by the age and condition of existing structures.

“Usually we do a roofing project once every few years,” Paullus said. “It’s just time, but for these two roofs are 20 and 25 years old.”

Despite ongoing maintenance, Paullus said repairs are no longer sufficient.

“We’ve been patching them, but it’s just time to replace them,” Paullus said. “They’ve served their time. The roofing projects would be in kind of the center of our campus in front of the gym and then over on the high school side”

Similarly, HVAC systems across the campus have exceeded their expected lifespan.

“For HVAC, the units that we’d be replacing, most of them are over 30 years old, but all of them are over 20,” Paullus said.

Another goal of the funds involves refinancing existing debt currently paid out of operating funds.

“Currently, we’ve got a few COPs out there, so that’s just debt that the district has to pay for out of operating funds,” Paullus said. “Refinancing would allow the taxpayer, essentially, to flip the bill so that we could use all of our existing operating money for actual operations.”

By shifting that burden, Paullus said the district can redirect funds toward instructional priorities.

“I can use it to pay teachers; I can use it to support student programs,” Paullus said. “Right now, all of that’s just tied up in past projects.”

Paullus said the refinancing would provide both short-term and long-term financial relief.

“We would just move whatever a bond issue didn’t cover from past projects into a bond issue now so that we can recoup those operating funds,” Paullus said. “Next year, that’d be about $116,000 back for us, and over the course of the next 10 years, it’s well over $1 million in recouped operating funds.”

Beyond major infrastructure needs, the district has identified specific areas requiring attention, including asbestos removal beneath the aging stage in the gymnasium.

“The asbestos removal will definitely happen,” Paullus said. “It’s under our old stage and behind our old stage.”

Addressing that issue would also open the door for future use of the space, he said.

“We’ll have to pull the stage and then remove that asbestos, and then we can figure out what we’re going to do with that area after that,” Paullus said.

Additional potential projects fall into a secondary category, dependent on remaining funds.

“We’d like to do some locker room renovations; we’d like to do some playground renovations,” Paullus said. “We’d like to make that stage space more usable right now.”

He also pointed to smaller maintenance needs across campus facilities.

“We’ve got some ceiling grids that are showing some age,” Paullus said. “We’ve also still got some lighting conversions we’d like to do.”

Athletic facilities are also included among the possible upgrades wish list.

“Baseball and softball field surfaces could use some work,” Paullus said. “Our track has a couple of areas that have sunken down in the middle where we practice field events.”

Improving those areas would enhance safety for students, he added.

“We’d like to get that dirt work taken care of, smooth that out and make it a little bit safer for our kids,” Paullus said. “But again, all that’s ancillary. It just depends on how much money we’ve got left after the big stuff.”

Ultimately, Paullus said the proposal is about addressing pressing needs while preserving classroom resources.

“This just takes care of a lot of critical needs that are on campus,” Paullus said. “We’ve got aging facilities.”

He emphasized the financial impact on district operations and taxpayers.

“Right now, we’re eating operating dollars to maintain those facilities, so this allows us to use our operating dollars for classroom practices,” Paullus said. “If the voters support that idea, then we’ll go with it, and at no additional cost to what they’re currently experiencing.”

Voters may have their say on the measure on April 7. To pass, the measure would need to receive four-sevenths support, or 57.14% in favor.