District 303 parents want tax for new school; board pushes back
A band of St. Charles parents urged school board members to at least give the community a chance to vote for a tax increase referendum that would fuel an all-new middle school Thursday night. But board members killed that idea because they don't believe the community would support such a tax increase.
Parents speaking at a special school board meeting said they are skeptical about the quality of a $50 million remodeling project slated for Thompson Middle School. They fear the impact of two years of construction "chaos" on students. And both they and their children hung their heads as they expressed the sense of loss that would come with losing friendships because of pending attendance boundary changes that will coincide with moving the district from three middle schools down to two.
Haines Middle School would close in the third year of the proposed project. It's students would split between the expanded Thompson and Wredling Middle School.
"We like your plan, but we don't love it," said Haines parent Susan Keldani. "We can do better."
"Better" involves pushing forward with the $50 million plan while also asking taxpayers in April for enough money to build an all-new middle school. The parents expressed high confidence in such a tax increase of as much as $45 million winning voter approval once the community weighs an all-new school against the renovation plan.
That current plan hinges on borrowing $15 million in working cash bonds. The rest of the cash the district would cull from savings, a grant and new efficiencies. Parents threatened to run a petition to force the school board to get voters' permission to borrow that $15 million if they didn't receive the option to vote for the $45 million tax increase.
District staff then spent nearly three hours addressing all the concerns about the quality of the Thompson renovation, safety of the construction and impacts of the attendance boundary changes. At the end, Superintendent Don Schlomann said the board must weigh the public's appetite for a tax increase before moving ahead with any plan.
Board members said they don't believe the public has any appetite for such a tax increase. They think a renovation of Thompson is the best use of taxpayer money. And they don't want to delay upgrading middle school education for a referendum they say has no chance. Board member Lori Linkimer summed up the overall sentiments of the school board by speaking to her support of the quality of the plan district officials have created to enhance middle school education.
"I'm a steward of the money and the students in this district," Linkimer said. "I don't want to see us wait one more minute to offer and equal opportunity education to the students of this district. We need to use the money we have."