This school district superintendent in southwest IL is making his pitch for expansion

Superintendent Mike Sutton is making his pitch to Highland community leaders for $43 million in school construction.

Sutton began a series of presentations at community groups such as the Rotary and the Lions last week, explaining the plan and answering questions about the construction plan, which includes a $32.5 million new primary school and $5 million expansion at the middle school.

The Highland District 5 program to add a school and expand space goes back to October 2018, when the district did a comprehensive study of space use and formed a group of 50-60 school staff, administrators, teachers, community members, business owners, parents and others to evaluate it and make recommendations.

The plan was delayed due to the pandemic, but now is going forward with a voter referendum to sell bonds so the district can borrow the money for a new school and expansion elsewhere. The highest priority is the Highland Primary School, Sutton said.

“It is obvious when you start looking at Highland Primary that having kids and staff under three different roofs moving throughout the parking lot throughout the day for different programming was not safe and it was not secure,” Sutton said. “That is our No. 1 priority.”

The second priority is a nine-classroom addition to Highland Middle School, due to the number of students in its programs, Sutton said. The third priority is a second gym at the high school, which Sutton said is dependent on the amount of funds available.

“If the bids come in low, we can talk about the second gym,” he said.

The plan also includes renovations at Highland Elementary.

Sutton said he knows some voters might be resistant to the timing, having just come out of the pandemic and facing inflation. But there are some economic indicators that now is actually a very good time to embark on a project of this size, he said: Particularly low interest rates.

For every quarter percent interest rates rise, Sutton said, it costs taxpayers an additional $1.7 million in interest. Issuing bonds now, while rates are low, will save taxpayers money, he said.

Sutton said District 5 has done “an excellent job” of keeping the tax rate the same using budget cuts in difficult economic times rather than borrowing money. The few bonds they do have are set to retire over the next three or four years, and the plan is to issue the new construction bonds to replace those bonds so the tax rate continues to stay level.

“We are certain that we can issue bonds to do our priorities and keep that tax rate from going up at all,” Sutton said.

In addition, Sutton said there is approximately $2 million in COVID relief funds from the federal government that could be put into the program, reducing the amount paid by taxpayers.

“There will be a time where there will no longer be a window that we can take advantage of that,” he said. “If (the referendum) were to be successful at this time, we will have an extra $2 million to put toward these programs.”

‘A very generous donation’

The site for the new primary school will be on the south side of town, and designed so students will have views from their classrooms.

“We want a building where kids can look out a window and see something, see green space, see a playground — not look out a window and see another wing to another part of the building,” he said.

The owner of the land was willing to sell, Sutton said, and the money came from “a very generous donation” that offset the cost $250,000 for the land allocation.

“We will be well under budget as to what we had originally expected,” he said.

Election information

Sutton was scheduled to present to the Highland City Council on Monday, May 2.

“We are hopeful that with a partnership with the city that we will apply for a ‘Safe Ride to School’ grant to approve the roads going out there and sidewalks all the way to the primary school,” he said.

The election takes place Tuesday, June 28, with early voting beginning Wednesday, May 18, Sutton said. The question for taxpayers will call for $40 million, with the remainder to be drawn from the federal COVID funds.