Citizens for Clarendon Hills Doesn't Like District 181's $53-Million Referendum, And Here's Why

Citizens for Clarendon Hills (C4CH) has spoken out about its stance on School District 181’s referendum to build a new Hinsdale Middle School for $53 million — and it’s not pretty.

C4CH firmly stated its intention to vote “no” for the referendum, which will make its appearance on area ballots for the second time next Tuesday.

“The project is not a $53-million project,” C4CH Officer John Jasper wrote in a statement on behalf of the group. “It is an $83-million project.” Jasper argued that since, with interest, the $53 million number eventually increases by $30 million, District 181 is presenting false information.

Jasper said property values will surely be negatively affected in Clarendon Hills and in Monroe school areas that attend Clarendon Hills Middle School, which C4CH says hasn’t gotten any much-needed attention in years.

“The political spin allows a voter to support this referendum, use the school, and then leave before contributing much,” Jasper wrote. “Not $1 is going to CHMS, which has needs after all these years.”

C4CH’s main argument against District 181’s referendum is the fact that it believes that HMS could be renovated and added to for a fraction of the cost, rather than rebuilding the entire school. The group claims that architects who have designed the blueprints for a new HMS added $5.9 million of unnecessary add-ons to the building because they receive a percentage of the project money and are lobbied by special interest groups.

The impact of an $83-million project could be harsh to taxpayers, Jasper wrote, especially households whose income totals to less than $50,000 a year. That population makes up 25 percent of Clarendon Hills’ total, according to C4CH.

C4CH said it is urging District 181 to reconsider its referendum and reconfigure the project with a $30 million spending cap.

The group said it believes the school could be redesigned in such a way that it could be modernized and an annex could be added for extra classroom space. The newly designed building, it argues, would have 20 percent idle classroom space that wouldn’t be actively used.

The group created a document similar to one District 181 released detailing how their new school would be better with the $53-million lift. It's safe to say C4CH doesn't agree.

“Just stop and pause for a minute to rethink the largess of the $83 million number in a small community when much more cost-effective alternatives are available,” Jasper wrote. “Overspending has never made our kids smarter or increased property values.”

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