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Oak Brook District 53 seeks input on building plans
Updated: January 7, 2013 1:43AM
OAK BROOK — Butler Elementary District 53 plans three meetings with the public to get input on three options for the future of the local schools.
Sessions, all with the same format and presentation, are scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Nov. 8; 9:30 a.m. Nov. 9; and 1 p.m. Nov. 12; at Butler Junior High, 2801 N. York Road.
Options are upgrading and keeping both Butler Junior High and Brook Forest Elementary, closing Brook Forest and adding on to Butler Junior High to create one kindergarten to eighth grade school, and building a new K-8 school on 6-7 acres of the 285-acre Sports Core, which is owned by the village.
The board recommends the third option, which they say also is supported by village officials and members of the Butler family, which provided the land both schools occupy, said board President Alan Hanzlik.
“We would have an agreement to co-share resources with the village,” Hanzlik said. “We wanted to come up with a solution that is both best for our students, educationally, and economically sound for the community.”
Hanzlik said the properties on which Butler Junior High and Brook Forest are located would be sold if a new school is built.
He said the meetings are important for board to find out how residents feel about the different options.
A decision to pursue the plan of a new school on Sports Core property would mean two referendums on the April 9, 2013 election ballot.
The first referendum, for all Oak Brook voters, would seek voter approval for the village to sell some of the Sports Core property to District 53.
The second referendum, only for voters living within District 53 boundaries, would seek approval for the sale of $15 million in bonds to help fund the building of a new school. Hanzlik said the second referendum would result in a property tax increase of $375 a year for a home valued at $944,000.
A $5 million referendum would be sought for the option to add on to Butler Junior High, which would cost an estimated $125 a year in property taxes for a home valued at $944,000.
