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Mount Prospect District 57 to discuss potential tax increase

Mount Prospect Elementary School District 57 will hold three community forums in October to discuss the district's financial issues and the possibility of seeking a tax increase in a referendum next March.

Residents will have an opportunity to provide input and ask questions at the forums, which will be held in the Fairview School Multi-Purpose Room, 300 N. Fairview Ave., Mount Prospect.

The meetings will be from 7-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 12; 9-10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 14; and 7-8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 18.

School officials say without additional funding, the district will need to make cuts in staffing and programs starting next school year. The school board is considering seeking a tax increase to address operating and facility maintenance needs.

At the community meetings, Elaine Aumiller, superintendent, and Adam Parisi, assistant superintendent for finance and operations, will explain the funding challenges and solutions that are being considered.

"We have scheduled the forums for a variety of days and time, even holding one on a Saturday morning, in hopes that everyone will be able to find a time that fits their schedule," Aumiller said in a news release. "I hope all of our community members will become informed about these important issues that will affect the future of our schools."

District 57 also will mail a public opinion survey in mid-October to voters seeking feedback on how to address instructional, facility maintenance and transportation needs. The survey is anonymous.

The school board will decide in December whether to place a referendum on the ballot based on the forums, survey results and the work of a Community Task Force that was appointed to study the issues.

District 57 serves approximately 2,200 prekindergarten through eighth-grade students.

  This mobile classroom installed this year at Westbrook Early Learning Center is an example of the facilities challenges Mount Prospect Elementary District 57 faces. Bob Chwedyk/bchwedyk@dailyherald.com, September 2017
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