Community Consolidated School District 89 recently issued the following announcement.
In order to maintain educational programming during a steady increase in enrollment, the Community Consolidated School District 89 Board of Education has unanimously agreed to place a tax-rate referendum on the November 6 ballot. At the regular meeting on Monday evening, Board members said they supported the ballot question after hearing that residents have expressed a desire to avoid classroom cuts while eliminating the deficit.
“Residents have told us they do not want program cuts that would decrease our students’ opportunities, the quality of our schools, or the values of our homes,” said CCSD 89 board President Beth Powers. “Excellent schools have long been a bedrock of this community which is why the district is ranked among the best in the country.”
The Board members’ decision comes after months of work by the “Our 89” Community Engagement Committee and surveys of residents. At both community meetings and in surveys, residents said they did not want any further cuts that could impact the quality of education offered in CCSD 89 schools.
CCSD 89 enrollment has increased by 20 percent since 2012 and it is projected to grow another 13 percent in the next four years - an increase of nearly 700 students in 11 years. Due to this enrollment increase and rising costs, CCSD 89 is facing deficit budgets for at least the next five fiscal years.Our 89 logo
The Board will ask voters to approve a 40-cent tax increase. This rate would mean that residents would pay an additional $133 in taxes for each $100,000 of their home’s value. For a resident with a $300,000 home, the additional cost would be about $33 per month. CCSD 89 has not had an educational-rate increase since 1986.
You can learn more about the community-engagement work at www.ccsd89.org/our89
“Our 89” Community Engagement frequently asked questions can be found at: www.ccsd89.org/our89FAQ
“It is very important that all CCSD 89 residents stay informed about the issues the district is facing,” said CCSD 89 Superintendent Dr. Emily Tammaru. “I encourage residents to review the district’s website to get the facts about the work that has been done by the district to cut costs while the number of students has been steadily increasing.”
Community engagement work
In January 2018, CCSD 89 Superintendent Dr. Emily K. Tammaru convened a Superintendent’s Finance Committee to examine the district’s financial status and priorities. The committee looked at the nearly $3 million in cuts the district has made since 2009, and examined how rising enrollment and increasing costs have affected the district’s budget.
The members of the Finance Committee recommended two options to the Board of Education:
Option A: Increase revenues in order to maintain comprehensive, high-quality educational programming. Increasing revenues would allow the district to avoid cuts to programs that directly impact students.
Option B: Reduce programs and increase fees. The district would need to make about $1.2 million in cuts during the 2019-20 school year. These cuts could include reductions of: gifted services, band and orchestra, social work services, library staff, and full-day kindergarten. The cuts could also result in larger class sizes. The cuts could be more significant in subsequent years.
This summer, the district hosted three community meetings to share financial data and gather feedback. Community members who attended those meetings said they valued fiscal responsibility, but did not want cuts that would affect programming and potentially property values in the district.
At the community meetings, 84.7 percent of the people in attendance said they supported increasing the tax rate rather than cutting programs to balance the budget. When the district conducted phone surveys this summer of all residents (parents and non parents), 56.9 percent of residents said they would support a 40-cent referendum.
Voting on the referendum
The referendum question that will appear on the ballot will read:
Shall the limiting rate under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law for Glen Ellyn Community Consolidated School District Number 89, DuPage County, Illinois, be increased by an additional amount equal to 0.4% above the limiting rate for school purposes for levy year 2017 and be equal to 3.3849% of the equalized assessed value of the taxable property therein for levy year 2018?
Voting ‘yes’ on this question would be voting to support the referendum. Voting ‘no’ on the referendum would be voting against the referendum.
The referendum will be on the ballot November 6. Early voting starts September 27. The deadline to register is October 9.
You can find out more information about registering to vote in DuPage County at: www.dupageco.org/Election/Voting/
Original source can be found here.
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