Choosing discretion over valor the school board at Oak Park and River Forest High School has decided there will not be a referendum on the ballot next April asking voters to allow OPRF to sell bonds to pay for what is called Act 3, a plan to build new music and other arts spaces in the southwest corner of the OPRF building.
A formal vote was not taken at the Oct. 22 board meeting but a clear consensus was reached.
Citing uncertain conditions, the school board decided to follow the administration’s recommendation to target the primary election scheduled for March 21, 2028 as the time to ask voters to raise their taxes to pay for a project that would take two years to complete.
Until recently the administration had been targeting the local elections next April as the time for the referendum but changed course after some school board members advocated waiting a year saying they thought next year was too soon. The delay in the completion of Project 2, the new physical education wing in the southeast corner of the building which is expected to soon open fully, influenced the decision to wait a year to hold a referendum. Some at OPRF concluded voters would be more likely to approve a referendum after having more than a year to see and experience the benefits of the new swimming pool, gym and other elements of Project 2.
The current uncertain economic times nationally also influenced the decision to delay the referendum.
“The April 2027 municipal election will occur less than five months after Project 2’s full opening, amid uncertain local, regional, and national economic conditions,” wrote Supt. Greg Johnson and Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Tony Arbogast in a memo to the school board. “As a result, the administrative team recommends that the board reach consensus on establishing March 21, 2028 as the definitive date to have the Act 3 referendum question on the ballot.”
Board member Kathleen Odell said she was happy to see the administration recommendation to hold off on the referendum for a year and supported that recommendation.
“I think this is very prudent,” Odell said. “It allows us to plan, it allows us to get through, as you mentioned, this period of economic uncertainty.”
Jonathan Livingston, the board member who was the strongest proponent of waiting until 2028, was also happy with the decision.
No formal vote was taken on the issue.
Josh Gertz said he would like for the referendum to take place at the November 2028 presidential election, the election which is expected to have, by far, the highest turnout. But when Arbogast said the best time to go out to bid is late fall or early winter and that would be hard to do with a November referendum, Gertz said he is willing to compromise on the date.
In a discussion at the Oct. 8 school board meeting school board member Tim Brandhorst was the only school board member who definitively favored going to referendum in 2027. But at the Oct. 22 school board meeting Brandhorst said that the consensus of the board was to wait until 2028.
“I think it is clear where the consensus is and the consensus is around the spring of 2028,” Brandhorst said. “And it’s clear from my comments last time I think that our students and faculty deserve to have these improvements at the earliest possible date but certainly the consensus is spring of 2018. I can live with that.”
Board members are committed to trying to go forward with Act 3 and hold a referendum. They seemed to be concerned that an April 2027 referendum might fail and think the chances of getting a referendum approved will be greater in 2028. They are happy to have some certainty on the date although the board will not officially vote to approve the 2028 referendum date until next year.
The cost of Act 3 is currently projected to be $84.3 million. That projected cost is likely to increase because of the delay as costs continue to rise due to inflation.
If a March 2028 referendum is approved, it is expected that demolition and construction would start in 2029 and the project would be completed in the summer in 2031.