The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
Dear Editor:
Southern Scores with Spring Musical Delightful, energetic, and hilarious Broadway came to Raritan with the Southern spring musical, "Bye Bye Birdie!" What a great rendition featuring members of the Drama Club. Congratulations, students and Mrs. Diana Taylor for a giving everyone such a good time.
Virigina Ross
Stronghurst
To the Editor:
As many of you know, the State of Illinois is over 4 billion dollars in debt, and educational funding has been cut.
The last 2 monthly state aid payments that our school districts receive this fiscal year are in question, and assessed valuations of farmland continue to drop.
Enrollment figures show steady decreases and that means less state money to each district as well. District expenditures continue to rise with yearly inflationary costs of salaries and operations.
As you see, less income, more expenses; doesn't add up to a balanced budget. Locals cry, "No more tax increases!", "We don't want our children to Ôget lost' in a big school",
"We don't want our towns to Ôdry up', and "We want Ôlocal representation'!"
What is the answer? Modest-sized schools from neighboring communities and local representation, with modest taxes. How do we achieve this? BY ACTING NOW. The Consolidation Advisory Group of the Colchester and Northwestern school districts have put together an amended consolidation proposal for the April 1st ballot.
This proposal will keep both districts from cutting into academic and extra-curricular programs that would severely hurt the kids and the community as well.
This is, however, a short-term "fix" and another "consolidation step" (NOT annexation), with a rural, neighboring district will be necessary to give the district long-term visibility.
A "rural", modest-sized, consolidated school district, with representation from each local community and modest taxes; isn't that what most of us want?
This district would allow children to adequately prepare for college or vocational occupations, and to participate in extra-curriculars, while keeping them from getting "lost in the crowd." This district would allow students to name the mascot and colors, giving them and their communities a sense of identity as well. We have to act NOW; each year we wait, our existing districts go deeper into debt and our children and communities are affected. The damage would already be done and the problem would be much harder and COSTLY to fix. We urge everyone to GET INVOLVED AND GET THE FACTS. And please, vote YES, for Proposition 1 on April 1, a stepping stone to our community's future!
Greg and Anna James
Blandinsville
Dear Editor:
The Committee of Ten Speaks
We, as the "Committee of Ten", have put together what we feel is the best proposal for a consolidation for the school districts of Alexis, Warren and Yorkwood.
There have been great challenges and obstacles to overcome. Throughout the year, there have been many issues in our districts, our communities, and our state that have affected us while we were in the process of preparing our proposals.
There was the announcement of the closing of Maytag, the closing of Pinewood, issues relating to other districts, the announcement of Yorkwood's loss of poverty count, and many area schools facing hardships, just to name a few. To say that the last year has been eventful would be an understatement.
What we have concluded and offered to our communities for a vote on Tuesday, April 1st is a combination of resources (both financial and human), and a plan for increased opportunities and an enhanced curriculum.
The decisions that were made have not been easy ones, but were accomplished with discussion, negotiation, and yes, opposition. No plan could ever be devised that would make everyone happy about everything, but we think what has been proposed is fair to the communities, financially feasible to the districts, and most of all beneficial to the students.
Curriculum, fine arts, and extracurricular opportunities - These are some of the most important of all of the issues. With this consolidation, this new district will offer far more than any of these schools can offer alone. It will also protect against having to make cuts in areas that these districts might not be able to sustain alone. Anyone who wishes to dispute this must first realize that none of these districts offer what they did twenty years ago. All of these districts need to offer more in the future for our kids to be competitive in college and in the work force. Yes, we all do a great job now of providing an education, but we can do better and we should.
Class size - With two grade schools and two levels of each grade, we estimate 16 to 17 students per class. Teachers have acknowledged this as a wonderful number; not too large, not too small. While the fear has been of large class size, the fact is that with tight budgets, these schools have had numbers larger than this quite frequently in the past. With declining enrollments there are numbers lower than this which is not productive or feasible. We maintain these numbers are productive, feasible, and desirable.
Transportation - This new district will be the third largest in the state in land mass. There will have to be creative measures taken in preparing the bus routes, and most likely the use of extra bus routes to keep the time on the bus reasonable for the children. Please keep in mind there is currently reimbursement available for transportation costs. The only promise we can make is that we have willing people on the transportation committee that will be working diligently to prepare the routes. Anyone from the community who is concerned is welcome to give input or assist in the preparation. Please remember that there are people on these committees that have children who will also be on those buses. This is not an issue we take lightly.
Building usage - There is a need to not only provide for the students and use our funds economically, but to preserve our rural communities. Both Alexis and Yorkwood expressed an interest in keeping their grade schools. This makes sense because it will help their communities continue to thrive and maintain the value of their housing properties. Alexis has to face the prospect of closing a building that is a part of their history, but is not financially feasible to use or maintain. In giving this up, they are in turn going to be able to house an elementary school (PreK-5) that will have more students than in the past with the addition of Warren students. Some residents of Yorkwood have had difficulty with the idea of losing their high school students, but in turn they will house the other grade school (PreK-5) with their own students, and in addition they will add a portion of the Warren students. Yorkwood will retain the use of their second building to house the junior high (6-8) for all three districts. This not only makes good use of both of their buildings, but it also allows them to keep their students "home" until the 8th grade. Warren will be used as the high school facility (9-12) for all three districts. The Warren location is more convenient to available resources, after-school activities and employment in Monmouth; as well as to the Galesburg Area Vocational Center, the Center for Manufacturing Excellence, and Carl Sandburg College in Galesburg, which can be utilized for vocational opportunities. Warren is also the largest of the buildings and can house the high school in one building rather than two. Yes, Warren is going to have to bus their younger children to other facilities, but it will mean a better education at all grade levels in exchange for that sacrifice.
Upgrades - The Committee has been fortunate in dealing with three districts who all have well-maintained facilities. Upgrades will be needed for two of these facilities to prepare for the new district, but that would be expected in a consolidation. These schools were built to house small K-12 unit districts. As the use changes, the needs change also. With the closing of the Alexis High School building there becomes a need for the addition of a cafeteria for the grade school. The estimate on this project is $585,000 to $685,000.
The new district would be able to make use of the Alexis gymnasium due to the size and seating capacity. A boiler to heat this gymnasium is estimated at $135,000. Alexis currently has fund balances in excess of 1.2 million dollars.
There are no plans to build a gymnasium at Warren at this time, which has been an issue for some people; the likelihood of that ever happening would depend upon the availability of construction grants in the future, and that is not an option at this time.
Warren School would require some upgrades to classrooms and vocational areas to convert it from a K-12 building to a high school building.
The estimates for all of the upgrades combined is $321,000. Warren currently has fund balances of over $900,000. Yorkwood is fortunate due to the fact that, for the purposes of their buildings, they will have no upgrades to make. This allows them to keep their fund balances intact. When needs do arise at the Yorkwood facilities or the other facilities in the future, the new district will be responsible to address those from the combined funds of all districts. When this consolidation passes April 1st, these school districts could begin to immediately prepare these facilities for the new district, using their own funds.
Finances - Some may feel that one district or another may have an unfair advantage in the consolidation. Yorkwood will in fact bring in a healthy fund balance of over two million dollars into the new district. With this balance, the balances from the other two districts after they make their upgrades, and the 1.4 million in financial incentives that the new district will receive for consolidating, there will be a smooth transition to this new district. We see this as far more productive than each of the districts using their balances to provide nothing new to less students for a while longer, only for the purpose of self-preservation. To the "wait and see" attitude, we say "wait for what?"
Taxes - The ballot will show a rate of $3.75 which reflects the maximum allowable levy in the four funds required to be shown by law. This does not mean that $3.75 will be the tax rate levied. All three of these districts have set a precedent of levying below the maximum. Generally, boards try to levy in line with the projected budget so they are not extracting surplus funds from the taxpayers. The actual maximum that could be levied with this consolidation is $4.01, and that includes an extra 50 cents that was added to the education fund to protect against the loss of state or federal funding. A proposed budget has been prepared for the new district which shows a necessity to levy at $3.56 to meet the needs of the new district. This is the rate that would be recommended to the new board to levy. In fact, the three existing boards would have to levy this the first year, as taxes are levied one year in advance. All three boards would need to levy at the same rate in preparation for the new district. This rate is in line with what Yorkwood and Warren have been levying, and is actually a reduction in the Alexis rate. With declining EAV, Yorkwood will actually pay less in dollars at this rate even though their rate will be slightly higher.
Contributions - What each district brings to the table is another issue we have had to face. With the proposed budget and estimated EAVs, Alexis taxpayers will bring in 26.20% of the taxes with 284 students or $3,793.45 per student, Warren taxpayers will bring in 42.24% with 324 students or $5,362.34 per student, and Yorkwood taxpayers will bring in 31.56% with 369 students or $3,517.55 per student.
This means that combined we will have a total of 977 students and 4.1 million in taxes, or $4,209 per student. This is before any state or federal aid is added, and with a district that will be combining resources and using them more efficiently. We need each of the districts' students and EAV to achieve this. No one is getting cheated or gaining unfairly. Without the dollars, we cannot provide the education. Without the enrollment, it is not feasible to do so anyway. These facts and figures are what makes us good partners in this consolidation.
Scare Tactics - As the Committee of Ten, we maintain that we all need each other to make this work, and as the old boundaries fade into the past, we will be one district. The mindset of "what belongs to whom" will quickly disappear as the successes of the children take center stage.
The facts are with declining enrollments and rising costs, not to mention the threat of loss or change of aid to these districts, we must do something pro-active to not only use our funds more efficiently, but to make additional opportunities for the children. We see nothing productive in maintaining individual districts which will be offering less to fewer students as time passes, enrollments shrink, and cuts are made. These are not "scare tactics", but reality. And yes, reality is scary.
It is impossible to turn on the television or open a newspaper without hearing yet another report on deficits, cuts, or closings in school districts throughout the state. These are not advertisements that the Committee has written. These are reports of the condition of education in the state. We are not immune, we are just fortunate that we have been well managed and have not fallen that far. By working together while we are still in good financial condition, we will avoid being just another report on the evening news.
Will we have to do this again in the future? With this consolidation, we will have a combined EAV (Equalized Assessed Valuation) of $115,000,000. This would be one of the largest EAV's in the state for a district of this size. What this means is that we would have an extremely solid tax base that would protect us against many financial perils in the future. If anyone on this committee thought this district could not last a great number of years, perhaps indefinitely, we would not be working so hard to prepare for it.
We have faith that with our resources, this district can last. No one has a crystal ball. A great number of things could affect our future such as whether or not jobs are brought into the area and what decisions the government makes on how schools are funded.
Some have stated that we will need to consolidate again in 5 or 10 years, but with what we will have together and what we can forecast for the future at this point, we do not feel that is an accurate statement.
Our residents have made a choice to raise their children in these smaller rural districts. We have a responsibility to honor that choice. We do not wish to push our residents into a county wide school when the majority let us know they did not want it. We maintain that bigger is not always better, but too small does not provide all. We have searched out and found the middle ground.
We are presenting to the voters a plan to increase curriculum, fine arts and extracurricular opportunities, to maintain a small school rural environment, to keep these rural communities viable, to be fair to the taxpayer, and to protect against financial hardships.
We don't know what more we could have placed before you. This is the best deal we can get for each of our districts with this consolidation. We ask that you please set aside emotion and personal judgment when you vote on Tuesday, April 1st. Your choice to VOTE YES is a choice for progress and for opportunity.
Sincerely and respectfully,
The Committee of Ten:
Sue Bertelsen, Chris Cook, Rick Elliott, Terry Johnson, Kerri Marshall, Debbie Meeker-King, Rob Peirce, Daryl Shike, Jane Taber, John Winebright and Alternates: Marge Hennenfent, Lisa Powell and Wendell Shauman