Important Facilities Update from Superintendent Heinz:
As a new Superintendent, one of my first priorities was to determine what our facilities need to support learning and meet safety standards as they age. Because even our youngest building -- Emerson -- is now a “teenager” and our oldest schools (Field, Lincoln and Roosevelt) date to 1928, we moved forward last year to complete a required 10-year required Health Life Safety survey and also develop a comprehensive Master Facilities Plan working with FGM Architects. The findings are that District 64 facilities are structurally sound and safe, however we must continue to replace systems that are past their useful life.
This fall, we brought recommendations to the Board of Education for the most critical work to be completed first to keep our learning environments “safe, warm and dry.” This is basic work required on the “envelope” of the schools -- such as replacing leaking roofs, sealing windows, repairing crumbling bricks, and the like -- to make sure the schools can continue to serve students and be neighborhood assets for many years to come. We brought forward recommendations to break up this work into packages over several summers, and for further study to identify options for work that could be considered over the next 10 years.
In addition to this critical infrastructure, District 64 two years ago contracted with noted national security expert Paul Timm of RETA Security to conduct a comprehensive security review. Based on these findings, District 64 has mapped out a multi-year plan to enhance security for staff and students working and learning within the facilities each day. The Raptor visitor management system is one visible enhancement already in place. Adding new secured entries to all our schools is a high priority recommendation of this study. Currently visitors -- once buzzed in -- have immediate, direct access to school hallways and therefore, to our students and staff. At this week’s Board meeting, Mr. Timm and Park Ridge Police Acting Deputy Chief of Operations Duane Mellema confirmed that the cornerstone of access control is a secured vestibule. As proposed, new secured vestibules routed into school offices would greatly enhance security for all students and staff. Visitors would be buzzed into the office where they would wait to be authorized for entry to the building. Over the past decade or more, this type of restricted access has become very commonplace in schools across the country and school districts locally are doing everything possible to install them. Therefore, administration brought forward a recommendation to the Board for such entries to be completed in summer 2016. Other than educating students, keeping students safe while at school is the most fundamental assumption when parents entrust their children to us each day. We feel strongly that vestibules will help do just that.
More detailed plans, alternatives and cost estimates for these 2016 summer projects only will be presented at a special Board meeting at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 5 at Jefferson School, 8200 Greendale, Niles. Work for summer 2016 was initially estimated at about $14 million total, including: required Health Life Safety and critical infrastructure at about $8 million, and secured vestibules for all buildings at an estimated $6 million. FGM Architects will be presenting more refined costs as well as some choices for vestibule designs at this meeting. We also have been working with the Board through the Fall to identify funding options for this essential work, including spending some of the District’s available existing fund balance possibly in combination with bonds. This discussion will continue on November 5. Further discussion and action on these important projects is expected at the November 16 regular Board meeting, which will be held at 7:00 p.m. at Franklin School, 2401 Manor Lane, Park Ridge. As always, Board meetings are open to the public; community and staff members are welcome to view the Board as it evaluates these recommendations and funding options. An opportunity for public comment is always included. If you are unable to attend, videos of all meetings also are accessible on our website.
I hope you this update has helped to inform you about the critical work needed to ensure our learning environments are “safe, warm and dry” for students and staff. Further information about the Master Facilities Plan and the discussions that began last year are available on our website. We know that our neighborhood schools are among the community’s most valued assets, and that it is incumbent on us to invest in their ongoing maintenance so they can continue to provide a healthy setting to educate current and future generations of Park Ridge-Niles students.
For Your Children,
Dr. Laurie Heinz, Superintendent