These three O’Fallon schools are getting additions. What about your school?

O’Fallon School District 90 hopes to add onto three of its elementary schools by fall 2028.

The district plans to finalize the sale of nearly $17 million in bonds next month to fund the addition of dedicated gym spaces to Estelle Kampmeyer, Hinchcliffe and Evans Elementary Schools.

Under the plan, Hinchcliffe and Evans each will also receive six additional classrooms, and some small renovations and repairs, O’Fallon 90’s Superintendent Carrie Hruby and Chief School Business Official Terry Wisniewski said.

Current and projected district growth has created the need for more space in the schools, Hruby said. The three schools’ cafeterias double as gyms, which prevents students from getting the full three state-mandated days of physical education each week.

Classroom space is also tight and prevents the district from lowering class sizes; smaller class sizes are widely accepted as an educational best practice, she said.

Hruby said the district is at the “very initial stage” of designs. Officials are consulting with architects about potential locations of the additions and their needs. Later, once the sales are finalized, they will work with a construction manager on getting bids, Hruby said.

The district sold the bonds without voter approval through a backdoor referendum. Under this process, district residents can force a referendum by submitting a petition signed by 10% of the district’s registered voters within 30 days of a notice being published in the local newspaper. This did not occur, allowing the board to proceed.

The board held a hearing in December, then sold the bonds, and is now waiting to close and receive the money on March 4.

The majority of the $16.9 million is working cash bonds, while about $1.5 million is health life safety bonds. The latter can be used for specific projects that the regional office of education inspects for, such as roofs, boilers, bathrooms and fencing — not new construction, Wisniewski said. Working cash bonds are more flexible, Hruby said, allowing for the additions.

Hruby expects the bond and interest portion of the property tax rate to remain steady at 39 cents even with the new $16.9 million issuance.

The district was able to issue the new bonds at a lower interest rate, which also reduces the amount of time it will take to pay them off, Wisniewski said. By paying off existing debt and repaying the bonds over several years, the district is also able to keep the bond and interest property tax rate steady, Hruby said.

“The goal is to do the work at the schools that’s required or needed, but to do so without increasing the bond and interest tax rate,” Hruby said.

Including this most recent nearly $17 million sale, the district has issued a total of approximately $24 million for facilities improvements over the past few years. The board had authorized the sale of $11.5 million of the recently sold $17 million back in 2024 but waited to actually sell it along with the newly authorized $5.6 million this school year, Hruby said.

There’s a laundry list of projects that have either been completed or will be done using these funds, one of the largest being the new inclusive playgrounds the district debuted at the beginning of the school year.

The district also has done pothole repairs, HVAC work, roof work and more. Its to-do list includes updating school electrical systems, renovating some restrooms and sidewalk repairs.

“Lots of these were projects that had been delayed for too long,” Hruby said.