Our facility planning process started in June of 2023, when our district brought together staff, students, parents, and community members for the first of many meetings to discuss our current facilities and determine what might need to be addressed in the next ten years.

During this process, we identified and prioritized four needs for Glenbard West:

• Additional classrooms and current classroom updates.
• Spaces for students to congregate, collaborate, and work on their own.
• A secondary performing arts space with flexibility.
• Entryways that are safe, secure, and appropriate for student traffic.

Community engagement meetings continued throughout the fall of 2023. In an effort to get additional feedback on our facility planning, a survey was sent to community members, as well as Glenbard staff, students, and families in October of that year. At their November meetings, the Board of Education reviewed the results of the community engagement meetings and survey. On December 11th, 2023, the Board of Education authorized the administration to proceed with a referendum in March 2024 to assist in funding Glenbard District 87’s Ten-Year Facility Master Plan. You can find links to recordings of these meetings here.

How are the facility improvements being funded?
The District went through a process of creating a new master facility plan in 2023. The original plan identified over $385 million of improvements for the District’s facilities covering more than 1.6 million square feet of space. This list was prioritized and eventually reduced to a need of $312 million over a ten-year span (2024-2034). District administration recommended the use of operating funds totaling $129 million over the ten-year plan. The remainder is being funded by a $183 million referendum, which was approved in the spring of 2024. Consistent with our communication plan prior to the referendum, each school is receiving a share of the $312 million allocation proportional to its student population. The amount budgeted for facility improvements at Glenbard West is over $92 million. This allocation may rise slightly over the ten-year period as we have budgeted conservatively on both the expense and revenue sides. We anticipate that the actual amount available to spend will be closer to $341 million based on the use of interest income from bond proceeds and the likelihood that actual bid results will come in below current estimates.

In preparation for the referendum, District 87 shared information with the community through multiple channels. This included community newsletters, informational mailers to residents, and a dedicated section on our website featuring text and video summaries of school needs, along with video recordings of Board of Education presentations. In addition, referendum details were shared through District 41 PTAs, Rotary, Boosters, West Nation, principals’ newsletters, the Referendum Forum at Glenbard West, League of Women Voters meetings, library board meetings, and the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce meeting.

The proposed footprint of the Glenbard West addition was also featured in brochures, posters, and presentations.

Click to view information shared with the West Community
Facility Planning Community Forum – September 27, 2023
Community Survey – October 2 – 27, 2023
Board of Education Approves Referendum Ballot Question – December 11, 2023
Referendum Forum – March 7, 2024
Glenbard West Community Construction Update Video #1 – October 29, 2024
Glenbard West Community Construction Update Video #2 – December 19, 2024
Glenbard West Community Construction Update Video #3 – March 5, 2025
Community Traffic Forum – May 19, 2025
Glenbard West Construction Traffic Update Video – August 4, 2025

** For the latest District Project Updates, please visit www.glenbard87.org/projectupdates

The Glenbard West campus is under 10 acres, where the typical size is 50 acres or more for similar comprehensive large high school campuses. Most of this acreage is set on a hill and nestled in a neighborhood, next to a lake, and just outside the central business district. The qualities that make our campus so unique and special also pose significant challenges when it comes to facility planning.

Since the 2009-10 school year, Glenbard West’s student population has been above 2200 students. West had not experienced enrollment that high since before Glenbard South was built in 1972. Even with the addition of the science wing in 2016, West’s classroom utilization remains higher than comparable high schools, but that doesn’t tell the entire story. The space constraints include many small classrooms that can’t accommodate a full class of students or are not currently handicap accessible. During non-lunch periods of the day, every single room is utilized, including less ideal learning spaces that do not meet the needs of our students.

The entire main building sits on a hill. Because of its topographic variances and the way our building is situated on the hill, parts of the building are more elevated than others. The appearance of the building and the hill itself remain unchanged except for on the northwest corner where the addition is planned. The addition was designed on an angle to protect the manner in which students would progress up the hill into the building. The building will remain about 10 feet above street level on the side nearest Ellyn Avenue. This is difficult to see in the early design drawings due to limitations to the design software and intentional purpose of the drawings to illustrate the features of the building rather than the landscape. We are working with the architect to provide pictures that better illustrate the topography and trees that will remain intact.

Wold architects were selected as Glenbard87’s architect of record following a competitive process called a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) which was approved in March 2023. The RFQ process is distinguished from a competitive bid because we are not allowed to make our selection based on the cost of service, but rather the qualifications of the firms and the best fit for our District. This process is required for Illinois school districts per Illinois School Code.

Gilbane was selected as our Construction Manager in June 2024 following the same competitive RFQ process utilized with our architect selection. Gilbane is charged with overall project management, cost estimation and is responsible for packaging and developing a list of qualified subcontractors to bid on the specified scopes of work through the public bidding process. Subcontracts are awarded based on the lowest qualified bid. While Gilbane manages the bidding process and makes the recommendation for award following a public bid opening, the Board of Education has the final say and approves each individual bid package prior to the work being done. Glenbard West recently completed summer 2025 projects utilizing the process described above. However, Gilbane has not yet bid out the work connected with the classroom and commons additions. This work is scheduled to be bid this winter with approval coming in early February.

Note that Gilbane is not responsible for bidding mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection work. These services are handled through Performance Services which conducts work under the Guaranteed Energy Savings Contract (GESC) provision. They handle the bids directly as the work being performed generates operational savings that in the long-term helps to pay for the improvements being made.

Construction is anticipated to begin during the week of spring break. Site fencing and staging will take place in early March, 2026. The current timeline is for construction to take place throughout the 2026-27 school year. Depending on the scope of work that is approved by the Board of Education, the classroom and commons addition work would be completed in August 2027. Following the completion of this phase, renovations would take place in the existing building’s classrooms and common spaces.