D-205 Projects Expected To Be Over Budget

ELMHURST, IL — Three construction projects in Elmhurst School District 205 are expected to cost up to 21 percent more than was budgeted when voters approved going nearly $170 million into debt in 2018, district figures show.

At this week's school board meeting, officials presented estimated dollar amounts for planned projects at Field, Jackson and Conrad Fischer elementary schools.

Under the referendum, the three projects were budgeted for $39.8 million. But the jobs are now estimated to cost $44 million to $48 million. And that's not including more expensive options under consideration because of projected increases in enrollment.

In 2018, voters approved a $168 million bond issue in a referendum. So far, $69.9 million of that money has been committed. Of that, the district is $400,000 over budget, or about half a percent, officials said.

Explaining the higher estimates, Todd Schmidt, the district's buildings and grounds director, said they can be blamed on unknowns in the market with the cost of goods.

"We're not sure where that's going to land when this goes out to bid," he said.

On the favorable side, Schmidt said the referendum budget included $1.3 million in projects that the district completed shortly before the referendum, so that money is freed up for other things. And he said the district is about $1 million, or 3 percent, under budget with the Lincoln Elementary School replacement project, which starts this summer.

Field Elementary School is also being replaced. Officials spoke about whether to build an even bigger school than originally planned.

"The school is going to increase in enrollment," Schmidt said. "We have a neighborhood with a lot of teardowns and younger families moving in. We have new home construction there."

School board member Jim Collins noted the district drafted an exhaustive facilities plan before it went to voters with the referendum proposal.

"We thought we had it nailed," he said.

Then along came a dual-language program at Fischer that proved to be just as popular as expected, testing the limits of the school's capacity, Collins said.

"You gotta plan, but reality gets in the way, and that's where we are at this moment," he said.

The board made no decisions on the referendum budget at its meeting. Schmidt said the district planned to go out to bid on the Field, Jackson and Fischer projects in November or December.