The St. Charles D303 school board held its first round of straw poll votes Monday night about the projects that could make up a facilities referendum, backing seven of eight categories reviewed.

The board also voted 7-0 to keep moving forward with general plans for a community referendum.

The straw polls are non-binding. The board won't take formal action on whether to place a referendum on the ballot until a future meeting.

Seven project categories passed: Parking lots and concrete ($7.3 million), roof replacements ($33.2 million), safety and communication systems ($10.2 million), and mechanical, electrical, and plumbing work ($52.7 million) all received 7-0 support. Athletics and playgrounds ($13.9 million) passed 6-1, the North High School cafeteria expansion ($7.2 million) passed 5-2, and the North High School Field House ($62 million) also passed 5-2.

Bathroom project stalls: A $6.3 million bathroom improvement package failed to pass its first straw poll in a 3-4 vote. Board members raised questions about whether the work was cosmetic or a genuine safety issue, and about how much operational disruption non-functioning bathrooms actually cause. The board proposed putting together a scaled-back version focused on East High School, Richmond, Davis, and Wild Rose (valued at about $4.8 million) to discuss at a future meeting.

The biggest project: The North High School Field House is the largest item on the table at roughly $62 million. Officials said the project would add four courts, an IHSA-appropriate track, and additional PE teaching stations at a school with fewer teaching spaces than East High School.

Eight categories remain: Monday's session covered 8 of 16 total project categories. Any categories not reviewed move to the next meeting.

Public comment during the meeting was split. Some speakers cited the benefits of strong schools and the need to fix space shortages, while other residents expressed concerns about how this could impact tax increases they said are already showing up on their bills.

In the district's presentation, the “Plan A” approach shows roughly $312.5 million as the ceiling for a full referendum package (if every project category discussed is indeed included). However, the materials made clear that the board has not finalized which projects will make the final list.

Watch a recording of the school board meeting.

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