LFHS Referendum: $11.8M Above Voter-Approved Bonds
The Lake Forest High School (LFHS) referendum passed by just 120 votes. District 115 voters approved $105.7 million in bonds for the school’s highest-priority facility work. The administration now projects $117.5 million in spending, or $11.8 million above the voter-approved bond amount.
“The Board of Education is focused on the high school’s absolute highest priority facility needs—no more; no less.”
Superintendent Matt Montgomery’s administration expanded the project after the vote. It now calls the project “under budget.”
Parents Care editorial cartoon. · Read Philippe Melin’s full report (PDF)
Matt Montgomery expanded the project. It backfired.
Montgomery blamed some of the higher construction costs on competition for workers from a Grayslake data center. Yet, that project was already under construction before District 115 set its November 2025 estimate.
His finance team also names “added project scope” as one reason bids came in higher. In plain English, contractors were pricing a bigger job. District slide on higher bid costs
The estimate for this round jumped from about $30 million to $53 million in five to six months. Then the district had to cut work. Montgomery screwed this up. His administration pushed ahead with designs for a bigger project before it knew what it could afford to build. November 2026 construction proposal
Up to $900,000 for designs the district might never use?
Parents Care’s review identified architectural fees tied to work the district shelved for this round. How much has the district actually paid, and will it ever use those plans?
How can Montgomery call it “under budget”?
$105.7 million in voter-approved bonds
$118.7 million in the administration’s current project budget
$117.5 million in projected spending
The district’s slide says $1,179,262 under project budget because it compares projected spending with the current $118.7 million budget.
What taxpayers should ask
Your property taxes are paying off the bonds, with interest. The board should disclose who approved the extra work, when taxpayers were told, and what the district has paid to design projects now on hold.
Email the District 115 Board and copy the District 67 Board. Ask for the approvals, actual design fees paid, and a plan for the work the district shelved.
Read the full investigation
Prepared by Philippe Melin for Parents Care. The eight-page report includes the original records, the district’s finance slides, and the calculation behind the design-fee estimate.
