Community High School District 128

Seeking community input on facility planning issues, the Board of Education of Community High School District 128 formed SPACES (Space Planning and Curriculum Enhancing Solutions) early in 2002. Two methods were used to recruit SPACES participants. First, an invitation was sent to many community residents who were either active in school or other community, political or business organizations. Second, an “all-call’ was widely distributed inviting all community members to participate should they like. The result was a large, broad-based community organization. The SPACES participant list is included in the final report. Chosen as leadership for SPACES was Dr. Renee Goier (Superintendent of one of the elementary feeder districts to District 128 and an active community volunteer) and Mr. Gene Childers (the facilities manager for a large local business, as well as an active community volunteer and District 128 parent). Biographies of Dr. Goier and Mr. Childers are included in the final report. Dr. Goier and Mr. Childers served on a SPACES Facilitating Team that included District 128 administrators and board members, representatives of the District’s architectural firm, and representatives of the District’s public engagement consulting firm. This Facilitating Team was responsible for establishing a timeline and calendar, developing agenda and work activities for SPACES meetings, and preparing the SPACES final report to the District 128 Board of Education. The initial meeting of SPACES was held on April 10, 2002. At that meeting, participants were informed of the purposes of the SPACES Committee, as well as the charge from the Board of Education.

The Five-Year Capital Plan will address the indoor and outdoor facility and maintenance needs and the related financing at the four District facilities — Libertyville High School, Vernon Hills High School, The District Office and Brainerd. The goal is to ensure an optimal learning and working environment for District students, community members and staff.

1. Evaluate District facilities in light of the current and future needs required by the District Mission Statement, the academic and extra curricular program, the community education program and related administrative and support staff requirements. 2. Consider the long-term infrastructure, life-safety, security and technology needs at each facility. 3. Examine the various methods of financing needed improvements. 4. Identify options to be considered by the District 128 School Board in the final development of a five-year capital plan. The SPACES Committee met ten times from April 10 through October 16. During a summer break, committee members worked on three subcommittees (Safety and Security, Technology, and Curriculum) that each reported to the entire group on September 4. The School Board also reported on financing options. In addition to these committee reports, the SPACES committee toured Libertyville High School, Vernon Hills High School and the Brainerd building. Committee members evaluated professional input from the District’s architectural firm. Committee members also heard reports on finance and demographics. Work exercises included prioritizing needed improvements to each of the high school campuses and considering options for the Brainerd campus and for the District office and grounds. Following extensive input and related work activities, the SPACES committee worked toward creating various options for facility maintenance and improvements in District 128. In their final two meetings, committee members developed options for three levels of improvement plans: (1) spending levels of up to $15 million, (2) spending levels of up to $30 million, and (3) spending levels of up to $45 million. The results of this work are presented in the final report in two different forms. First, there is a report summarizing the results of this activity. Second, the actual work product from each SPACES committee work group is presented in “raw” (not summarized) form. In addition to the options, SPACES members were asked to critique their own options so that the Board of Education would be presented with a comprehensive analysis of the pros and cons of each. In addition to these options, the SPACES co-chairs presented to the Board of Education their own observations or conclusions about the SPACES process. These thoughts included: · The District 128 Board is committed to hearing and listening to the community. · The District 128 community is committed to developing equity and parity at both campuses. · The community has high expectations for its high school district. · Committee members maintained a high level of commitment and involvement throughout the process. · Facilities are a crucial component of the educational process. · There is widespread desire to improve existing facilities. · Committee members placed highest priority on improvements having direct impact on students. · There are lots of needs and many tough decisions to make. · In the SPACES committee deliberations, three major trends are worth noting: — Safety items should be addressed first. — A consensus was reached to curtail any further investment in the Brainerd facility. — No capital funds should be invested on improving the existing District offices, and leasing space for District offices should be investigated. The SPACES Committee made its final report to the District 128 Board of Education on October 21, 2002. Copies of the complete SPACES report are available for public viewing at Cook Library, the Village of Libertyville and the Village of Vernon Hills.