Rosemont voters approve request for new elementary school

Rosemont voters overwhelmingly approved a request Tuesday to raise taxes to build a new Rosemont Elementary School.

Unofficial totals show the binding question to issue up to $40 million in bonds was favored by 622 voters and opposed by 106 in the village's gated Scott Street subdivision near Higgins Road.

Plans call for a new K-8 school to be built on open space next to the current building, which was erected in the 1960s.

That would enable a seamless transition for students to finish school in the old building, then start a new year in the new building, according to Rosemont Elementary District 78 Superintendent Kevin Anderson.

The old building would be demolished, creating open space again, he added.

Though the single-school district would have to borrow funds, Anderson believes property taxes would stay at the same level, because two tax increment financing districts are expiring. That would allow funds to flow to the school instead of being directed to the village for economic development projects.