The Naperville District 203 School Board was briefed on plans Monday to spend $9.5 million on an addition to Ranch View Elementary School and to make $32.9 million in improvements to Naperville North High School.
If approved at the board’s May 6 meeting, district administrators will move forward with the next steps for the projects, including working with architects and engineers on design plans and seeking construction bids.
The goal would be to have the work done in time for the 2025-26 school year, according to board documents.
At Ranch View Elementary, 1651 Ranchview Drive, the district wants to add four regular-sized classrooms, instructional and office space for social work, English language services and staff collaboration and additional staff and student restrooms.
Ranch View has more than 600 students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
Enrollment projections through 2029 show those numbers are going to be going up, Superintendent Dan Bridges said. They have also seen increases in specialized programs at the school, he said.
“We have had to use a number of nontraditional spaces, which not only has impacted where students learn in the building but has also impacted where our staff works and what they are able to do in those spaces,” Bridges said.
In 2022, administrators told the board that upgrades would be needed at Naperville North High School, 899 N. Mill St., Bridges said.
Among the things needed are removal of inadequate mobile classrooms, repurposed and increased instructional space, creation of a multipurpose instructional space and changes needed make the building compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The district would also add a multipurpose turf field for physical education classes and sports and address stormwater storage issues.
Outdoor athletic field changes would create a space that’s comparable to what’s already available near Naperville Central High School at Knoch Park, Bridges said.
Board member Kristen Fitzgerald said she was pleased the district is addressing space issues at Ranch View and equity issues between Naperville North and Central high schools to ensure the facilities are similar.
The projects have been talked about for several years, Bridges said.
“On all of our projects, staff is engaged on various levels regarding what the needs are,” he said.
Enrollment projections are done yearly, but the district looks out about five years to forecast enrollment changes and anticipate space needs, said Chuck Freundt, assistant superintendent for administrative services.
The board also is considering the purchase of 14 new school buses through a state-approved purchasing cooperative.
Officials would like four of those buses to be 71-passenger electric vehicles and the others 10 being traditional diesel buses. The 10 diesel buses would be various sizes, documents said.
If approved next month, the total price for the new buses would be about $2.9 million.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
