BUFFALO TWP — Freeport’s school board will have more time to make a decision on its high school’s future.

With questions over project funding and potential tax hikes, and the state of the physical structure of the high school, the board is expected to vote at its June 11 meeting on whether the district will spend tens of millions of dollars to renovate the high school.

The board had been expected to vote on potential renovation at its Wednesday, May 14 meeting. It was previously reported the board would have a final decision on renovations in March. On March 12, the board said it would vote on renovation proposals this month.

The three options that were meant to be voted on at the agenda were: a large-scale, $55 million renovation, a lesser-scale $22 million option, or no renovation at all.

The plan to vote on the renovation Wednesday night was scrapped recently as the board considers repairs to the school’s sewage system.

At the board’s May 7 meeting, Freeport finance director Brad Walker said a full-scale sewage system renovation was not only needed, but could not be delayed any longer. In mid-April, a CJL Engineering representative labeled Freeport’s sewage situation as a “complete system failure.”

Board members Dino DiGiacobbe, Sylvia Maxwell and Melanie Zembrzuski were absent from the Wednesday night meeting. Board president Gary Risch Jr. said board members being out of town recently also played a role in moving the vote to June.

Risch had previously emphasized his desire to have the renovation proposal items on the May 14 agenda to be voted on. He said with fresh concerns over the sewage system, the idea is a proposed renovation of the system would be part of the $55 million proposal.

“That would be part of the $55 million dollar project, that’s where that comes into play, and deciding how we’re going to vote on that,” Risch said.

The decision comes a week after the board unanimously approved a preliminary operating fund budget for the 2025-26 school year on May 7, without any tax increases at this moment.

The combined local, state and federal revenues would be about $39.06 million. Meanwhile, expenses for the preliminary budget stand at $39.49 million.

To offset what Walker said could at worst be a $450,000 deficit, the district would again pull from the fund balance, which is expected to contain about $6.4 million at the end of this school year. A final vote to approve the 2025-26 budget is scheduled for June 11.

The school’s finances have been a major sticking point in conversations over whether to renovate the high school now. For a four-year period from 2018 to 2022, Freeport faced a budget deficit, but the school has operated in a surplus in each of the past two years.

Both renovation options would have forced the board to raise millage rates over the next three years, although it’s unclear how much of an increase taxpayers would face.

“As of right now, the increased cost for any repair or renovation is not built into this budget,” Walker said May 7.

There has not been any clear indication how the board would vote on renovation proposals, but a couple board members have previously made their feelings felt. Risch and Christine Davies have both said existing building needs fixes to be made, and that zero renovation is not a good option.

“There can be no zero option,” Davies previously said March 12. “For the sake of this building, things are gonna have to be fixed.”

Meanwhile, DiGiacobbe has said he’s not in favor of any major renovation projects at this point in time.

“As far of the high school, I’ve always been in favor of keeping the current high school. But that’s where I’m at right now,” DiGiacobbe said Feb. 5. “I’m definitely not in favor of the $55 million plan, I’m not in favor even of $21, $22 million, right now let’s take care of things that we need to.”

The board will have a committee meeting June 4 to discuss the budget, as well as the renovation.

With no current tax increase proposed, and no renovation funding tied into the budget proposal, questions remain on if, and how, renovations will be funded. Board members had previously inquired to the hypothetical of raising taxes to the state index of 5.3%. Walker stated back then that level of increase would only generate $1.1 million in new money for the district. A tax referendum to fund the project was pondered in January, but never brought up again.

This story was updated at 2 p.m., May 22, to reflect the board members who were absent from the May 14 board meeting.