Villa Park School District holds town halls ahead of March referendum
District 45 has started a series of four Referendum Town Halls, with the first event held on February 10 at Jackson Middle School. The sessions are designed to inform community members about the upcoming referendum that will appear on the March 17 ballot.
Superintendent Dr. Brian Graber and Assistant Superintendent for Finance/CSBO Dr. Adam Parisi led the presentation, sharing details about the referendum plan and answering questions from attendees. "Our goal is to make sure that people can make an informed decision when they step into the voting booth," said Dr. Graber. "We want to make sure that people have the information they need so that they can make an informed decision on March 17th."
The remaining town halls are scheduled at various locations and online: Westmore Elementary School in Lombard will host a session on Wednesday, February 18 at 6:30 p.m.; Jefferson Middle School in Villa Park will hold another on Saturday, February 21 at 10:00 a.m.; and a virtual Zoom session is set for Wednesday, February 25 at 6:30 p.m., which requires registration.
Villa Park School District 45 serves DuPage County and includes schools such as Ardmore Elementary, Jackson Middle, Jefferson Middle, North Elementary, Schafer Elementary, Stevenson School, Westmore Elementary, and York Center Elementary (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). The district had an enrollment of 3,306 students during the 2019-2020 school year and covers grades pre-kindergarten through eighth grade (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
According to data from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), District 45 employs 224 teachers with an average salary of $74,159 before pension contributions; women comprise nearly 83 percent of this workforce. No teacher in the district reported more than ten absences in a school year (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). The student body is diverse: approximately 43 percent White, eight percent Black, thirty-five percent Hispanic, and eight percent Asian (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
In terms of spending, District 45 allocated $23,216 per student in fiscal year 2020 for a total expenditure of over $76 million (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/). Chronic truancy rates in District 45 were reported at just under four percent—significantly below the statewide average—amounting to 119 chronically truant students during the same period (https://www.illinoisreportcard.com/).
More information about the referendum is available at d45.org/referendum.