Referendum updates

Photo+by+Emily+Won%2C+24.

Photo by Emily Won, ’24.

Wouldn’t it be great if areas within our school were updated for the better? 

Barrington High School will undergo some changes as part of a five-year referendum plan. The referendum looks to introduce and open career opportunities to students. The referendum also looks into facilitating the availability of resources to students and allow for easier organization. Along with that, the plan looks forward to introducing a new indoor field house and redefining the look to the main entrance of the school.

The first part of the referendum will focus on the North side of the building. This will bring some new changes and updates to some areas. 

“Starting in the spring of ‘22, the tennis courts will be moving to another part of the school that is currently being planned to make room for redesigning to the front part of the building. There will also be some construction on the Field of Dreams and the baseball stadium,” Principal Steve McWilliams said. 

The referendum will focus on increasing the number of multipurpose areas for students to accommodate more students The current plan is to create a new commons area that connects the cafeteria to the library so that students can access resources easily.

“The front part of the cafeteria where the outdoor patio becomes an enclosed room along with the stars. This pushes the cafeteria more farther outside helping create a bigger commons area that connects the cafeteria with the library,” McWilliams said. 

The second part of the referendum will begin in the summer of 2023 and focuses on the guidance area of the school. This change allows for easier access to counseling resources.

“Counselors and all of the staff in the guidance’s offices will be moved so they can have their own space. It will be divided into three sections, white team, black team and red team. All students will be accommodated in alphabetical order and this will make it easier for the guidance members to work with students,” McWilliams said.

The third part of the referendum will focus on the physical education department. The referendum aims to provide students with a better area for physical education classes to increase the space. Most of the sections will be redone and some accommodating might need to be done.

“We are looking forward to [building] a field house with turf in the W130 section. This allows for PE classes and clubs to use this area for when the weather outside is bad. We are looking to increase the space in the weight room and share the gymnastics gym with other sports and activities, like an addition of a competitive basketball court or volleyball court,” McWilliams said. 

The proposal also opens up career paths to students by bringing new opportunities, including culinary arts, dance and physical education. 

“We are planning to install industrial grade ovens and make Culinary Arts a more professional environment. Opportunities in dance as a career or careers in the well being like physical therapy or physical trainer will open up. This allows for students to be able to dive into those fields,” McWilliams said.

The referendum will also look into updating some areas of the school that require maintenance.

“Bathrooms will be updated with new floors and new utilities. We will take a look into fixing the HVAC units so that the school isn’t too cold on certain days and not too hot on other days,” McWilliams said.

The new changes brought by the referendum will help provide students with the resources to succeed by giving them a wider variety of learning opportunities to learn from. 

“We are targeting that with the changes coming from the referendum, we can make the high school where students can come forward each day and give it their best and that the high school can provide the needs of students successfully,” McWilliams said.