Dist. 300 to legislators: Please send more state funding

Officials in Community Unit District 300 delivered a message to their state legislators Tuesday: Thanks for your help, but it's not nearly enough.

District 300 board members and administrators met with the district's state lawmakers Tuesday for the district's annual legislative breakfast.

The breakfast, rescheduled after it was snowed out last month, gave District 300 the opportunity to update legislators on the district's progress and outline the district's most pressing needs.

At the top of the list was capital development money. School districts that build new classroom space, as District 300 has done since 2006, are eligible but not entitled to receive a reimbursement from the state.

By the district's calculations, District 300 is eligible to receive $30 million in capital funding, but with the capital bill facing an uncertain future, the prospects of District 300 getting that money this year appear dim.

At Tuesday's breakfast, District 300 officials expressed their frustration with the state of capital funding, which the district hoped to use to renovate its crowded middle schools.

"Probably the biggest challenge we're facing is the delay in the (Capital Development Board) money," said Chuck Corba, chairman of the Community Building Committee.

The district's state legislators provided little reassurance to District 300 officials.

"I'm not very optimistic that we would see a capital bill before the fall -- and that's optimistic," said state Rep. Mike Tryon, a Republican from the 64th District.

District 300 officials pressed state lawmakers to shoulder their fair share of school funding and take some of the burden off local taxpayers.

"Eighty-five percent of funding for schools is funded by the local taxpayers," board President Joe Stevens said. "It just seems to me there needs to be more help coming from the state."

District officials also warned legislators that the Sears taxing district in Hoffman Estates could be disastrous for the district if it is renewed in 2013. The district withholds property tax revenue from taxing bodies to invest in the Sears, Roebuck and Co. headquarters and the surrounding area.

"If it's renewed, it could cause us to go to a referendum much sooner than we'd like to," Stevens said. "If it's renewed, it's a disaster for this district."

Lawmakers assured district officials the legislature would not renew the taxing district,

"The General Assembly has made the commitment that if the village (of Hoffman Estates) doesn't come forward, there's no intent," said state Sen. Pam Althoff, a Republican from the 32nd District.

Despite their gripes, District 300 officials were not sparing in their thanks to state lawmakers for a school funding bill that increased overall aid and funding for special education.