D124 Facilities Proposal

District 124 is dedicated to providing a safe and supportive learning environment for all students. After a long process working with community members, a proposal was brought to a task force that seeks to address its highest-priority capital facility needs districtwide by replacing Central Middle School and making critical improvements at its four elementary schools, including renovations, small additions, and eliminating the use of 24 year mobile classrooms. Furthermore, the Regional Office of Education has requested the removal of the mobiles as they were meant to be temporary in nature. 

Bonds are for buildings! A bond measure is a financing tool used by school districts to fund larger capital projects, much like a mortgage helps people purchase their homes. The proceeds from bond measures are often used for school renovations, facility upgrades, and new construction and must be approved by voters.

The district went to referendum in October of 1970 with the following proposition, which was approved by voters:

Shall the Board of Education of School District Number 124, Cook County, Illinois, construct additions to and alter, repair, and equip all the existing school buildings of said District now in use for school purposes and known as the Central School, Northeast School, Northwest School, Southeast School, and Southwest School, all located in Evergreen Park, Illinois, and to issue bonds to pay the cost thereof of said School District to the amount of $1,250,000.00?

Facility challenges at each of District 124’s schools are impacting student learning, safety, and operational efficiency in many ways. In addition to overcrowding and the use of aging mobile classrooms, the District’s schools face outdated mechanical systems, aging infrastructure, safety and security issues, many energy inefficiencies, poor indoor air quality, a lack of natural light, a lack of space for student support services and special education, and other challenges. Additionally, costly and disruptive emergency repairs continue to increase despite the amazing work of our dedicated facilities and maintenance team. 

District 124 has five schools that serve a total of approximately 1,800 students. The District has three PK-5 elementary schools, one K-5 elementary school, and one 6-8 middle school. Each elementary school is located in one of the community’s four quadrants, and they all feed into the centrally located middle school. 

The school buildings range in age from 59 to 98 years old. 

• 59 years: Northwest Elementary (1966)
• 67 years: Southeast Elementary (1958)
• 72 years: Southwest Elementary (1953)
• 76 years: Northeast Elementary (1949) 
• 98 years: Central Middle School (1928)

Built in 1928, Central Middle School is the oldest District 124 building and faces the most urgent and extensive facility challenges including simply not being designed to support modern education practices.

Yes, District 124’s elementary schools are 59 to 76 years old and face many age-related facility challenges. Given a lack of space, the District also continues to rely on 24-year-old mobile classrooms at each elementary school, which are also beyond their intended life. These mobile units create additional challenges that include safety and security concerns. The district also has many spaces that are occupied by multiple staff members that are required to share office space.  Students are required to receive special education services in small confined spaces that are not adequate for learning. Currently, art, music and technology classes are on a cart as there is limited space to promote these fine arts classes.

Since Spring 2022, District 124 has engaged in a comprehensive planning process involving staff, families, students, and the community. This has included working with its architecture firm to develop a strategic plan, completing a districtwide facility needs assessment, and conducting extensive interviews and surveys to understand the community’s goals and priorities for the learning environment. Based on this input, the architect presented long-range facilities goals to the Board of Education. 

Yes. The proposal would address the highest-priority needs at each school to ensure all current District 124 students, as well as those attending in the future, receive a high-quality education in a healthy, safe, and productive learning environment. 

The District’s four elementary schools face safety, infrastructure, and instructional space challenges due to their lack of space. All are overcrowded and rely on modular classrooms due to limited space. However, using these mobile units—now 24 years old and beyond their useful life—creates safety and security risks, as students must learn outside the main building.

A portion of the proceeds would go towards meeting high-priority facility needs at the District’s four elementary schools, including:  

• Removing the aging, inefficient mobile classrooms that have reached the end of their service life
• Adding soft surface playgrounds at Northeast, Southeast and Southwest
• Provide dedicated Preschool classrooms for district access increasing access to early intervention
• Provide additional support service spaces to address ongoing special education needs
• Provide additional bilingual classrooms at Northeast Elementary School
• Provided dedicated learning spaces for art, music and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics)  
• Addressing accessibility improvements
• Incorporating strategic updates to existing classrooms and common spaces

To eliminate the use of aging, security-challenged mobile classrooms districtwide and address other critical facility challenges, all of the District’s elementary schools would require renovations and/or additions. 

• At Northeast Elementary School, an addition would be constructed to serve as an early learning hub. This would consolidate the District’s Pre-K classrooms into one location, freeing up space and providing continuity in learning. 
• At Southwest Elementary School, an addition would house an updated STEAM lab, student support services spaces, and art and music programming.  
• At Northwest Elementary School, renovations and reconfigurations would focus on adding a STEAM lab, improving student support services spaces, and incorporating a Project Tree classroom. 
• At Southeast Elementary School, renovations and reconfigurations would focus on adding a STEAM lab, enhancing and consolidating special education spaces into a single location, and adding a soft surface playground. 

Schools sometimes use mobile classrooms as stopgap measures due to overcrowding or during construction/renovation projects, but they are simply not meant to be long-term or permanent educational spaces. Evergreen Park District 124’s mobile classrooms are 24 years old and have reached the end of their useful and economical service life. The Regional Office of Education has requested the discontinuation of these units due to their age, condition, and safety concerns. Under the proposed plan, the District’s mobile classrooms would be removed, and critical improvements would be made to safely house all students within school buildings.

Our district has been fortunate to have seen mostly consistent enrollment numbers between 1,700 and 1,800 students with a few exceptions. While we have seen a slight dip in total students in recent years, we are also serving our largest Pre-K class in recent history. A detailed breakdown by grade, student characteristics, and overall district enrollment can be viewed here.

District 124 seeks the community’s input on a $109.8 million bond issue. Of that amount, $74.9 million would be used to replace Central Middle School, while $34.9 million would fund critical facility improvements at the four elementary schools. 

If the District waited five years and annual construction inflation was a modest 4%, the cost would increase by more than $25 million. 

District 124 has worked hard to maintain its schools within its current operating budget. However, there are major capital facility investments and building updates that fall outside the scope of standard yearly maintenance projects. 

The District installed new HVAC at Northeast Elementary and Southeast Elementary Schools. Additionally, HVAC upgrades were addressed at Southwest Elementary School. Large scale cosmetic updates have been made at Northeast and Southeast Elementary schools that include new flooring and new paint.  The district also underwent asbestos abatement at Northwest Elementary school this past summer and installed new flooring throughout the building. 

The estimated monthly tax impact of the proposed 30-year, $109.8 million bond measure is $33.98 per $100,000 of a home’s fair market value, or about $91.77 for a $300,000 home.

Calculate your tax impact with the online tax calculator.