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Oswego District 308 board gives go-ahead for $317 million bond referendum on November ballot · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Speaker 1: Aswigo District three hundred and eight board gives go ahead
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  Speaker 1: for three hundred seventeen million dollars bond referendum on November ballot.
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  Speaker 1: Written by Eric Shelkoff, This article is being read by
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  Speaker 1: an automated voice brought to you by Everlett. Aswigo School
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  Speaker 1: District three hundred and eight taxpayers in November will vote
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  Speaker 1: on a three hundred seventeen million dollars bond referendum to
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  Speaker 1: address infrastructure, safety and security, and educational improvements throughout the district.
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  Speaker 1: At the August tenth Oswigo School Board meeting, board members
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  Speaker 1: voted six to one to put the referendum on the
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  Speaker 1: November third general election ballot. Voting against the measure was
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  Speaker 1: board member Brandy Robinson. Our district has serious facility needs
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  Speaker 1: and we must address them, Robinson said prior to her vote.
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  Speaker 1: My vote tonight is not against our buildings or our students.
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  Speaker 1: It is a vote against putting a three hundred seventeen
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  Speaker 1: million dollars referendum on the ballot right now and in
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  Speaker 1: this form. The Board's job is not to just let
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  Speaker 1: voters decide. Our job is to make sure that any
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  Speaker 1: referendum we present is responsible, necessary, and backed by evidence.
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  Speaker 1: Three hundred seventeen million dollars is a major financial decision.
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  Speaker 1: Identifying that amount in needs does not automatically mean that
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  Speaker 1: we should borrow that amount as we go. School Board
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  Speaker 1: president Dominic Serone supported putting the referendum on the ballot.
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  Speaker 1: This is a referendum focusing on safety, security, and making
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  Speaker 1: sure our buildings are in working condition to serve the
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  Speaker 1: needs of our school staff and students over the next
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  Speaker 1: twenty plus years, he said. Impact on taxpayers because the
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  Speaker 1: district is retiring existing long term debt at the same time,
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  Speaker 1: homeowners would see a decrease in the debt service portion
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  Speaker 1: of their property taxes even if the referendum is approved.
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  Speaker 1: Official said for a home with a fair market value
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  Speaker 1: of three hundred thousand dollars dollars, residents would pay about
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  Speaker 1: one hundred dollars less per year starting in twenty twenty eight,
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  Speaker 1: and an additional fifty six dollars less beginning in twenty
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  Speaker 1: thirty six. The district said the district had a facility
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  Speaker 1: assessment done of its twenty two schools. School district officials
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  Speaker 1: said nearly seventy percent of the schools were built between
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  Speaker 1: two thousand and one and two thousand and eight and
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  Speaker 1: are now reaching the age where major systems need replacement.
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  Speaker 1: They went through every single building with building engineers. District
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  Speaker 1: three hundred and eight Chief Communications Officer Teresa Komitas said,
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  Speaker 1: it's a full facility assessment and it's all loaded into
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  Speaker 1: a computer program now, which allows for our operations team
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  Speaker 1: to be able to look at any single facility and
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  Speaker 1: see what the current conditions are as well as kind
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  Speaker 1: of predict what's at past or near the end of
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  Speaker 1: life and what's likely to be the next big issues
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  Speaker 1: for us. The district quickly expanded from just six schools
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  Speaker 1: to twenty two schools to meet the rapid growth in
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  Speaker 1: Oswego in the late nineteen nineties and early two thousands.
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  Speaker 1: Seventeen new schools were built in just twelve years. The
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  Speaker 1: district's enrollment surged from about four thousand students in nineteen
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  Speaker 1: ninety two to more than seventeen thousand students in twenty thirteen.
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  Speaker 1: They were all built in that small window of time,
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  Speaker 1: Comitas said. Officials said the proposed referendum dedicates seventy nine
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  Speaker 1: percent of funds to critical infrastructure upgrades, including improvements to
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  Speaker 1: HVAC systems and roof replacement, flooring, plumbing, electrical and building
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  Speaker 1: exterior improvements also are being proposed. They noted that bond
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  Speaker 1: proceeds can only be used for facilities and site improvements,
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  Speaker 1: not salaries, benefits or operating costs. The school district serves
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  Speaker 1: portions of Kendall, will and Kane Counties. The referendum would
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  Speaker 1: fund facility improvements at all of the district's schools. District
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  Speaker 1: three hundred and eight chief financial Officer and Chief School
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  Speaker 1: Business Official, Raphael Obafemi said the district would prefer addressing
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  Speaker 1: building needs in a timely fashion. For one thing, the
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  Speaker 1: district can get the improvements done at a better price
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  Speaker 1: than if it were an emergency situation. He said, at
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  Speaker 1: the end of the day, it's beneficial for the taxpayer
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  Speaker 1: if we have a referendum and we plan out the
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  Speaker 1: project and we do it in an efficient, cost effective way.
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  Speaker 1: Obafami said not to mention the fact there is a
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  Speaker 1: disruption to the educational experience for students as well as
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  Speaker 1: staff when we do emergency repairs. More information about the
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  Speaker 1: referendum is available at SD three zero eight dot org
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  Speaker 1: slash update three zero eight