Evanston Township High School is scheduled to see the beginnings of a $12.5 million renovation this summer to house more students and better technology, said District 202 Business Manager Jeff Taggart.
The renovation, the largest since the 1960s, will take at least three years to complete and will include the creation of 10 new classrooms out of the current student center, as well as new multimedia and computer labs and a fitness center. Rehabilitations of cafeterias, an upstairs theater, the outdoor track and the rear entrance are also planned.
Providing room for special education and bilingual classes, which often limit class sizes to 10 or fewer students, factored into the project’s design, Taggart said. Several hundred students are currently enrolled in these classes.
Giving teachers their own classroom space so students can drop in throughout the day also contributed to plans, Taggart said. Technology’s increasing role in teaching has also put pressure on ETHS to make more space.
“When we had 5,000 students here (in the 1970s) there was virtually no technology,” Taggart said.
The current school population tops 3,100 students and is expected to increase to approximately 3,300 within a few years. Enrollment levels are expected to remain at or above 3,200 throughout the decade.
The school also worked to increase safety and audience accessibility in the upstairs theater, Taggart said.
ETHS administrators first surveyed students two years ago for their input in the planning stage, Taggart said. He said students have been especially influential in the proposals for a new student center that will be built to offset the loss of the current center to classroom space.
ETHS staff warmly accepted the plans at a staff meeting in January, District 202 Superintendent Allan Alson said at Tuesday’s board meeting.
The renovations will be funded by a bond sale and will not cause a change in taxes, Taggart said.
“Each school district has a limited amount (of bonds available to sell),” Taggart said. “We’re well within that limit.”
The D202 board sponsored a public hearing on the bond issue at last week’s meeting. No one spoke at the hearing.
The original construction proposal included the creation of as many as 20 new classrooms, including some in a second-floor space known as W201. ETHS has not finalized plans for this area, Taggart said at the board meeting.
