Barrington School District 220 residents and taxpayers have made their voices heard, prioritizing safety and security as their top concern for the school district. A new auditorium at Barrington High School also emerged as a high priority, according to community input gathered by EO Sullivan Consulting.
The consulting firm was hired by the district to collect community feedback in preparation for a potential multi-million-dollar referendum that could be placed on the ballot in the November election. Community members were asked to rank 10 projects identified by district officials as needs in the school buildings. They also provided feedback on three funding plans ranging from $45 million to $76 million.
According to the data, community members ranked safety and security as their number one priority, followed by mechanical systems, a new Barrington High School auditorium, and science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM) labs. They also supported a medium spending level, which has been estimated at $59 million.
However, the referendum advisory committee rated a new high school auditorium as its top priority, followed by music and fine arts rooms, according to the consultant’s report. Safety and security was ranked fourth by the committee, which also supported spending about $76 million.
Collin Corbett, who represented the consulting firm at the meeting, reported that support for enhanced fine arts programming was not as high among community members. He said overall, safety and security and a new high school auditorium were the top priorities selected by the public.
As part of the final information-gathering efforts, the school district plans to conduct a phone survey on April 29 to gather community opinion on three options selected by district leaders as the top priorities. A May 1 referendum advisory committee meeting is scheduled to discuss and rank those three options.
Superintendent Craig Winkelman noted that 56 respondents to the online form expressed a desire for a new fieldhouse. However, he said the district does not currently have space on any property to accommodate such an addition, which could cost between $40 million and $50 million. The question of a fieldhouse will be added to the next round of surveys.
A board update is planned for May 7, and the referendum advisory committee is expected to meet again on May 20 to review additional survey results and craft a board recommendation.
