Northbrook School District 27 and 28 voters appear to OK referendums
In unofficial results from Tuesday's election, April 1, voters supported referendums in both Northbrook School District 28 and Northbrook School District 27.
In Northbrook School District 27, 63% of voters cast ballots supporting establishment of a debt service extension base, or DSEB, according to unofficial results from the Cook County Clerk's Office.
Northbrook School District 28 residents voted overwhelmingly to issue $94.9 million in bonds to fund renovations of three schools and construction of a new school building, according to unofficial results.
With all 12 precincts counted Tuesday night, 63% of District 28 voters supported the proposal, while 37% opposed it, according to unofficial results.
'This is a huge win for our community,' District 28 Superintendent Jason Pearson said. 'We are grateful for the support.'
'Our team was amazing,' said Tamara Reese, chairwoman of the Citizens for District 28 bond referendum committee. 'We got all stakeholders involved with a grass-roots effort, and this is an exciting success for District 28 and the Northbrook community.'
District 28 plans to replace Meadowbrook School at an estimated cost of $56 million. A new two-story building will be constructed behind the existing school, which would remain open during construction, according to the district.
Other schools will undergo various renovations, fire alarm upgrades and security improvements.
At Greenbriar School, plans call for building a new classroom wing behind the gym and building a new cafeteria and flexible auditorium, stage, and commons area where the existing classroom wing along Greenbriar Lane is located.
Updated playgrounds, new parking north and east of the school, and turning the existing multipurpose room/cafeteria and adjacent classrooms into a science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) lab and music and art classrooms is proposed, as well.
New cafeterias and flexible space are also proposed for Westmoor School and Northbrook Junior High.
In total, the estimated cost of the projects is $115 million. In addition to the $94.9 million bond issue, the district plans to use $20 million in existing operating funds to pay for the remaining improvements, officials said.
Pearson said he is proud of the community for stepping up and investing in the future of District 28 schools.
'This was a real process to walk through as a community,' he said. 'It's been a long time since we asked the community for this kind of support for the schools.'
Pearson said he was not surprised by the election results after watching the community organize to support the referendum.
'I feel like this community, when it gets behind something, is able to accomplish whatever they identify as a goal,' he said. 'I'm not surprised that once they identified the need, they were willing to step up and invest in schools in a way that the community feels such strong support for.'
Pearson said District 28 plans to get started immediately on executing the plans to renovate three schools and build a new Meadowbrook School.
'The architects have been working with us on the master plan and the priorities,' he said. 'They're ready to move to the design phase. They're going to get started in April. Hopefully, we will have what we need to go out for bids in January or February (of 2026).'
Terry Ryan, spokeswoman for District 28, credited the district's success in the referendum with the hard work of its citizens committee from the start.
'They covered every base and did everything they could to get the word out,' Ryan said. 'We worked in partnership to share information with parents in multiple different ways, from public community coffees and forums to videos and a website. We worked to make the process transparent beginning two years ago.'
A citizens committee formed in support of the referendum had raised $16,000 as of March 6, according to contributions reported to the Illinois State Board of Elections.
The bulk of the donations—$10,000—were contributed by Itasca-based DLA Architects, the firm hired by District 28 to complete the 10-year facilities master plan identifying the building improvements in the referendum plan.
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