Duneland leaders explain $168 million school plan
Speakers at public hearing appear to favor project
Plans for a $168 million bond issue for upgrades throughout the Duneland schools, including building a new Yost Elementary School and shuttering Chesterton Middle School, received a mostly favorable response during a Monday public hearing.
Community members, including current and past district employees, lauded the foresight of the plans, which school officials and contractors involved with the projects said would provide better use of school buildings and equitable education opportunities.
Some residents raised concerns
about closing the middle school, part of a proposal to make Westchester and Liberty Intermediate Schools grades 5-8, with separate entrances for younger and older
students, and expand extracurricular and other offerings to fifth and sixth graders.
The hearing, at the middle school, is the first of two about the bond issue and building projects. The second hearing takes place at 6 p.m. April 12 in the school auditorium, 651 Morgan Ave.
Noting the pandemic, John Doyle of Jackson Township questioned the timing of the spending and asked school officials for inspection reports on the each of the buildings, adding the middle school is still a good facility.
“That’s a lot of money being spent here without the opportunity to vote on it,” he said, also questioning an estimated 25% in “soft costs” for the projects, which officials said would cover office furniture and other needs not directly related to construction.
Officials noted that most of the district’s buildings were at least 50 years old, except for Jackson Elementary School, built in 1982, and Chesterton High School, built
22 years ago.
The cost of renovating Yost, built in 1959, would be 80% of the cost of building a new school, past the tipping point of 75% for new construction, officials said. The middle school, constructed in 1955 and the oldest building in the district, is no longer needed as a school building because of classroom space elsewhere. Not renovating that building saves the district $30 million and at least a portion of it, yet to be determined, could be used for community needs.
The district’s current bonds will be paid off in 2023 and 2024, said Lynn Kwilasz, the corporation’s chief financial officer. If the district doesn’t continue to capture those funds, they could go to other taxing units, keeping tax rates the same and forcing the schools to raise taxes in the future.
“We have the opportunity to address our longterm needs,” she said.
For a home with a market value of $190,400, the average in the district, the taxpayer impact would be $6.80 a month or $81.63 a year, though the school corporation’s overall tax rate would remain about what it’s been since 2013, officials said.
“I see the advantage of keeping the bonding slot but I don’t see the advantage of going above that if $70 million will put us in good shape,” said Terry Hiestand of Chesterton, referring to the cost of what Robert McDermott, the assistant superintendent, called the “behind the walls” work required throughout the district, including mechanical and HVAC upgrades.
He also questioned closing the middle school, the district’s former high school, which underwent $5 million in renovations when the building was converted.
The majority of the speakers, though, supported the proposed projects and what they would mean for the district in the coming years.
“It’s the cost of four haircuts a year for me, or half the cost of Netflix, not the premium one,” said Keith Davison, whose three sons were the third generation of his family to attend the Duneland schools.
The school system, he added, has served his family well and he wasn’t just supportive about the plans, but excited about them.
“I don’t think our school district should be taken for granted,” he said. “Whether you have children coming up through the system or not, it’s the fabric of our community.”
The improvements, said Christine Bullock, a longtime teacher at the middle school and a Duneland resident, will draw more families to the community and increase property values, as well as increasing opportunities for children throughout the district.
“This is an investment,” she said.