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What are the next steps for Yorkville District 115 after voters go against referendum · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: What are the next steps for Yorkville District one fifteen
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  Speaker 1: after voters go against referendum Written by Joey Weslow, This
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  Speaker 1: article is being read by an automated voice brought to
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  Speaker 1: you by Everlett. In the wake of almost certain defeat
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  Speaker 1: for its two hundred and seventy five million dollars bond
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  Speaker 1: proposal for new and expanded facilities, Yorkville School District one
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  Speaker 1: fifteen is already gearing up for the next steps. The
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  Speaker 1: district's proposal was designed to solve overcrowding issues from a
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  Speaker 1: growing student population. With all precincts counted in Kendall County,
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  Speaker 1: sixty seven percent three percent of voters shot down the referendum.
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  Speaker 1: Mail in ballots are still being counted, but are unlikely
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  Speaker 1: to change the outcome. Superintendent mad Zedeker said that district
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  Speaker 1: will now collect data and feedback from the community to
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  Speaker 1: help craft and option residents favor more on the next
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  Speaker 1: pat Zedeker said the feedback would help the district downscale
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  Speaker 1: its plans for the upcoming November general election ballot. A
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  Speaker 1: new ballot proposal should be ready this August. We have
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  Speaker 1: to figure out how we solve our educational issues with
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  Speaker 1: what the community told us that they are willing to
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  Speaker 1: do from a spending perspective, Zedeker said. School Board president
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  Speaker 1: Sean Schumacher thanked the administration's transparency and the community's engagement
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  Speaker 1: over the past year and a half in helping craft
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  Speaker 1: the proposal. It's disappointing today to have that result, but
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  Speaker 1: we're going to go back to ground zero and try
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  Speaker 1: to figure out what the next steps are for the district,
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  Speaker 1: Schumacher said on Wednesday. We're going to use surveys, discussions,
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  Speaker 1: everything we can to get some strong data and find
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  Speaker 1: out what we need to drive it forward. At this point,
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  Speaker 1: enrollment has tripled in the past twenty years, with another
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  Speaker 1: eight hundred students expected to be added to the already
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  Speaker 1: squeeze classrooms. According to the district's demographer, the overcrowding issues
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  Speaker 1: we have are not going away. Mocher said. The problem
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  Speaker 1: is just going to worsen if we don't start to
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  Speaker 1: find viable solutions to better accommodate students currently overflowing classrooms
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  Speaker 1: and having extracurricular in ill suited settings. The district's original
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  Speaker 1: proposal included a new middle school and a new elementary school,
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  Speaker 1: a new academic wing, is listed for the high school,
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  Speaker 1: enabling all the students at the Freshman Academy to be
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  Speaker 1: moved into the one main high school building. The plan
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  Speaker 1: also converts a current elementary school into an early childhood center.
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  Speaker 1: With the last successful district referendum approved by the community
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  Speaker 1: more than two decades ago, Zedeker said they must precisely
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  Speaker 1: identify what drove residents to reject the proposal. Likely part
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  Speaker 1: of the culprit, the community seemed apprehensive to approve sixty
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  Speaker 1: million dollars for a performing arts center and an athletic fieldhouse.
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  Speaker 1: Zedeker said, while the district must make certain this is
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  Speaker 1: the case, one can assume that was really a driving force.
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  Speaker 1: Schumacher said the need for a new middle school, elementary school,
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  Speaker 1: and additions to the high school. As a parent, he
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  Speaker 1: said it's also important to include a performing arts center
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  Speaker 1: and an athletic fieldhouse in the future because the extra
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  Speaker 1: spaces they create for academics and extra curriculars are things
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  Speaker 1: our students need. Another possible factor was the announcement by
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  Speaker 1: the city Council that the district could be the recipient
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  Speaker 1: of sixty eight thou two hundred fifty thousand dollars from
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  Speaker 1: the city in funds collected from upfront payments from the
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  Speaker 1: developers of the Project Cardinal Data Center and the Project
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  Speaker 1: Steel Data Center. The money is still subject to full
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  Speaker 1: final approval on both projects. Zedeker said, while the funds
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  Speaker 1: used for new facilities could drastically reduce the tax burden
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  Speaker 1: on homeowners and property owners, the assumption that the data
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  Speaker 1: center money would be able to take care of all
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  Speaker 1: our needs was one that was pretty prevalent in the community.
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  Speaker 1: Zedeker said the timing of the city council vote and
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  Speaker 1: the money that came with it, understandably may have impacted
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  Speaker 1: some folks willingness to want to support the current plan.
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  Speaker 1: As the board collects feedback, Zedeker said it's important to
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  Speaker 1: create options covering if the district ultimately receives the money
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  Speaker 1: from the city and if they do not. The timing
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  Speaker 1: of the data center announcement could have negatively impacted the
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  Speaker 1: referendums chances. Schumacher said the timing could have been problematic
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  Speaker 1: for voters, and it might have been confusing. He said, ultimately,
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  Speaker 1: the district needs to continue listening to community voices and
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  Speaker 1: fostering better alignment by finding some sort of balance between
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  Speaker 1: the district's goals and the community's preferences. Schumacher said, if
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  Speaker 1: the next proposal on the November ballot is approved, students
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  Speaker 1: would be using the new facilities by the fall of
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty nine, at the earliest.