LM Summer 2025

PARK RIDGE CCSD #64

superintendents. Your referendum should become a distant memory, and people should always feel like buildings are really well-maintained because they regularly receive information — whether through video, face-to-face meetings, or mailings — about the state of facilities. IASA: What will people see on your website related to facilities? BC: We have three areas under our construction page. First is a running total updated every six weeks showing where construction bills are coming in — are we in line with projections, under, or over? This builds transparency and trust. Second is facility videos. Our communications director Chris Lilly is award-winning and amazing at video storytelling. I think the referendum was won partly because of his opening facilities video. It was so convincing people came out mad saying “How did this happen? These schools are in disrepair. We need to do something now.” Third is our 30-year capital maintenance plan. We put all building needs on an amortization table — roofs every 25 years, electrical every 15 years, HVAC every 20 years. We calculated what it would actually cost and whether our budget meets those needs. We realized we needed to double our capital expenditures, so we’d hopefully never need another referendum. When community members saw this planning level, it was a big selling point. The plan is on our website, updated yearly, so future superintendents can take it and run with it. People want constant stewardship of taxpayer dollars regardless of who’s leading the district. This “constant gardener” approach is important because that’s where most people go to see what’s happening. IASA: Can you talk about your “Protect D64” theme? BC: That was our big referendum theme — protect our buildings, protect our schools, protect our students. It resonated with our community and serves as good branding. On the construction site, you can click on different schools for updates. We’ll be adding time-lapse videos and running totals showing what we said we’d spend versus actual costs. So far everything’s going well. IASA: What other platforms do you use to tell your facilities story? BC: We use social media extensively. YouTube has been massive because of our videos. Remember, most taxpayers have never seen inside the schools — maybe the schools their children attended 20, 30, 40 years ago, but not other buildings. Videos really help with that. We also get great feedback from mailers. Many taxpayers continued...page 14

SAMPLE NEW MODERN LAB

BC: I wasn’t expecting this when I took the superintendent job. Early on, we had conversations about special education students who were outplaced in different facilities, and we were bringing them back to the district. These students were getting older and moving to middle schools, but we didn’t have space for them. In January of my first year, the board approved a $10 million bond for construction of our self-contained autism program in middle schools. We also re-did our Master Facilities Plan, which revealed extreme financial liabilities. Our budget projections for 1, 5, and 10 years were really rough. Over 12 months, we had ongoing conversations with community members and the board. Eventually this led to a referendum saying let’s do all this work now at less cost than it’ll be down the road. The referendum passed with 65% approval. IASA: Why is it important for districts to constantly share community updates on major building renovations? BC: Most community members, particularly those without students in district buildings — and that’s the majority of taxpayers — have no idea what the current state of buildings are. From a homeowner’s perspective, people know where their roof is in its lifecycle, when they last replaced plumbing, but they couldn’t tell you when that elementary school three blocks away needs its roof replaced. They own these properties and need to know where tax dollars are going to build good partnerships for public education. I had conversations that felt like Groundhog Day because three questions always came up: What’s the state of schools and how did they get this way? Do schools meet student needs now and in the future? How will we maintain them, so you don’t

continuously come back asking for more money? This needs to be an ongoing conversation for

12 LM Summer 2025