About two dozen people attended an informational presentation on the upcoming ISD 166 referendum at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts Monday, October 11, 2010. The proposed levy would generate about $377,600 a year— or $650 per pupil unit—for five years and could be used for operating expenses and building repairs.
Homesteaded and commercial properties and apartments would be levied, as well as a house and one acre on agricultural parcels. When Jesse Ventura was governor, a change was made in Minnesota statute that precluded seasonal/ recreational property and the bulk of agricultural land and buildings from being levied for school operating funds. According to Cook County Auditor-Treasurer Braidy Powers, seasonal property owners paid about 60% of Cook County regular property taxes in a recent year.
The proposed levy would amount to an annual tax increase of $67 per $100,000 of taxable market value. The average Cook County homestead value is $284,000.
Superintendent Beth Schwarz said that last year, the district borrowed about $700,000 to pay bills after the state delayed its funding for the school year. That money will be disbursed to ISD 166 this month. In addition to this delay in funding, the school has seen reductions in funding from both the state and the federal government.
The district is required to maintain some of its services even though it is not completely funded for them, such as No Child Left Behind Act testing, special education, and maintenance of effort (a requirement that prevents a school from discontinuing certain programs once it has implemented them).
According to Schwarz, the cost of transportation, heating, curricula, and classroom supplies continue to rise while funding levels do not. Thedistrict must pay overhead and maintain an administrative staff while student enrollment, with its corresponding state funding, continues to decline.
Theschool receives approximately $9,000-9,500 per pupil unit per year. A PowerPoint presentation by Schwarz states that school districts have been told they could see a reduction in basic aid of $1,000 per pupil unit in light of the state’s budget crisis.
“We are not looking at going out and buying a lot of computers,” Schwarz said. The school is not going to “buy, buy, buy, spend, spend, spend,” Schwarz said. “Thisis a maintenance issue.”
If the referendum does not pass, the school could eventually go into Statutory Operating Debt (SOD) in which the state, after three years, would intervene and take some of the decision-making out of local hands.
“Please don’t get me wrong regarding cuts that would be considered if the referendum doesn’t pass,” Superintendent Swarz said, “I’m a huge fan of athletics and activities, and it’s one of the things that keeps kids in school.”
“We are to the point of eliminating programs,” said school board member Eric Kemp. Some subject areas such as family and life science have only one teacher. Cutting those teachers would mean cutting those programs, he said.
In response to an audience question about how much schools can require parents to pay for supplies and equipment, K-12 Principal Gwen Carman said the law is specific regarding what schools can and cannot require parents to pay for. For example, she said, schools can charge for renting band instruments but cannot charge for English textbooks. Superintendent Schwarz said that while she anticipates fees continuing to increase, the school would not keep a child from an educational experience offered by the school if his or her parents could not afford to pay for that experience.
The levy would help the school’s financial situation a lot, Kemp said.
School board member Mary Sanders said only 35 of the state’s 337 school districts do not have an operating levy. The average amount levied throughout the state is $800 per student per year, Schwarz said. Cook County’s last operating levy ended in 2007.
Theregular school levy will be going up during the next fiscal year, Schwarz said, but that increase will be spread out among the entire tax base.
“Can the board live within our means?” Schwarz said. “Yes, the board could live within our means, but at what expense to the students?”
If the referendum passes, the
administration has said it would spend
the money on the following:
Maintaining small class sizes with a “floating” teacher who can work with kids who need more help. ($70,000)
Preserving vocational, college prep, and College in the Schools elective classes ($50,000)
Reinstating a full-time industrial technology position that could work with classes of as few as five students (some industrial technology classes are not equipped for large numbers of students). ($20,000)
A computerized assessment tool that identifies specific areas of strength or weakness for individual students and staff time to analyze the data and strategize how to make use of it. ($75,000)
Increasing early childhood education programming in response to research that correlates “wellplanned” early childhood programming with success in school, which reportedly translates into long-term benefits for communities. ($60,000)
Reinstating custodial staff that was reduced and repairing or replacing lockers, the roof, masonry on the outside of the building, the parking lot, and 58-year-old water lines. ($100,000)
Cuts the current administration would
consider if the referendum fails would be
the following:
Eliminating athletic spending on things like coaches and transportation to away games. ($70,000)
Not funding advisors for academic co-curricular programs such as Math Masters, Math Counts, Knowledge Bowl, robotics, pep band, and the oneact play. ($50,000)
Increasing class sizes and offering fewer elective classes. ($70,000)
Reducing or eliminating staff in the health service office. ($35,000)
Reducing administration, the K-12 counselor position, and the part-time dean of students. ($50,000)
Decreasing Early Childhood Family Education staff and supply budget. ($60,000)
And other cuts would still need to be made.
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