Vote Yes

In the upcoming March 17th election, we have a transformational opportunity to set our schools on an even more positive path. Let’s vote yes for the school district we love!

As one of the fastest-growing districts in Illinois, our community’s explosive growth has put the district in an unsustainable position. School enrollment has nearly tripled in the past 20 years. Every building is overcrowded, with even more growth projected in the future. This has created packed classrooms, too many transitions for students as the district tries to fit kids wherever they can, and programming taking place in inadequate spaces.

Because our school district has historically been among the lowest funded districts in the entire state, currently only funded at 67% adequacy, they do not have the ability to make the significant infrastructure investments needed to resolve these overcrowding challenges.

The district makes the most of the funding they do receive as one of the most fiscally responsible districts in the state. They spend less than any peer district and considerably less than the state average, with a student-to-administrator ratio 40% higher than the state average, proving they are investing the funding they have into kids and classrooms instead of administrative costs.

But the reality is, while our teachers and staff do the best they can, the overcrowding is beginning to hurt the district’s ability to provide students the quality education we expect.

In addition, more can be done to upgrade security infrastructure. High school students currently have to walk across the street multiple times a day. Our top-notch music program doesn’t have a high school auditorium, and band is frequently taught in a hallway. The district doesn’t have space for student services. Health offices are too small to properly separate healthy and sick kids. Special education is crammed into half classrooms. Families are turned away from early childhood programs. Some of the buildings, mechanicals, and furniture are aging to the point of needing significant renovation or replacement. The district has limited space for extracurricular activities, and our athletic teams don’t have the practice space they need.

That’s why our community collaborated on a community-driven plan to address the overcrowding our schools face while ensuring we are not put in this position again.