Citing safety concerns, Highland school district looking to construct new facility

Highland residents are likely to vote on a referendum in the spring that would fund a school construction program, including a new primary school.

The Highland District 5 school board voted earlier this month to go to the voters for funding for school construction for a group of capital projects.

“The top priority ... is new construction of a primary school,” said Superintendent Mike Sutton. “Obviously it’s exciting and we have lots to share with our community.”

At the moment, many students at Highland Primary School have to leave the building and cross a parking lot in the middle of the day. This has been a recurring concern over the last few years, especially after a feasibility study conducted nearly two years ago.

The study recommended a list of improvements ranging from the primary school project to adding a performing arts center at the high school to expanding Highland Middle School, where the library often must be utilized as a classroom and there are limited STEM and special needs classrooms with no vocational areas. The potential project was put on hold in 2020 due to the pandemic.

In January, the district refinanced bonds to save interest and fund life-safety projects, including new parking lots, sewer and storm drain upgrades and new secure entrances at Alhambra and Grantfork schools.

Sutton said the specifics on the referendum are still being developed, including the total amount or the impact on tax rates. Not everything identified in the feasibility study will be included, he said.

“We are studying the costs of building a primary school, constructing an addition to the middle school, and adding a second gym at the high school to see if we can do them without increasing the tax rates locally,” he said.

Sutton said the district has several bonds retiring over the next few years that could be replaced with the cost of new bonds to keep the tax rate level.

“I expect our projects to become much more defined over the next couple of months,” he said.

Sutton also said members of the community will have “ample opportunities” to view plans and designs with all costs “on the table” to determine how it will impact them before the referendum.

The Illinois primary election will be June 28, 2022.

This story was originally published November 30, 2021 at 9:00 AM.