This April, residents of District 120 voted on a referendum that would grant the district $175 million to renovate and improve MHS facilities. Of 5,629 votes on the referendum, 53.86% voted for it to not pass.
The referendum’s failure in the spring has led to the discussion of a new possible proposal, although nothing is confirmed yet. Director of Public Relations, Peter Gill, stated, “At this point there is no definitive plan to place a referendum on the ballot…there are opportunities to put another referendum on the ballot in March 2024 and/or November 2024.”
Despite the long wait, the requests outlined in the referendum from April have only been exacerbated by the larger freshman class this school year. Additionally, with new communities being constructed in Mundelein and more families moving in, class sizes will only continue to grow as the years go on.
According to the MHS website, “The current auditorium, main gym and cafeteria are original construction elements in a building designed for 1,500 students at a time when there were 10 sanctioned boys sports and only two girls sports.”
In the advent of a new referendum proposal, many of the changes would involve infrastructure improvements to address the aging schools facilities.
“First of all, we need to talk about infrastructure,” MHS Superintendent, Kevin Myers said, “So, improve lighting, air conditioning throughout the building, and from a student’s standpoint, a better environment to work in academically.”
Improved infrastructure would have benefits for students in other ways as well, possibly eliminating early and late lunch periods with the use of a larger cafeteria area. On top of this, after school sports and programs could end by 6:30 p.m., not having to go so late into the evening with access to more gym space.
Despite all of these improvements, the implementation of these changes hinges on the votes of the community members. Attracting support for a referendum of this size is difficult.
“As school officials, whether its administrators, or the board, we’re not able to garner support. What we’re able to do is to educate and inform everybody. So, I can’t ask, nor can they, ‘I need you to vote yes for this’ – that would be a violation,” said Myers.
Regardless, it seems crucial that some changes be made to the school to address the overcrowding.
“That multipurpose space, that fieldhouse — Mundelein High School is the only high school in Lake County that doesn’t have one,” said Myers, “ If we don’t do it now, it’s going to have to happen at some point.”
