Latest / Kendall County News - Shaw Local / Voters go in favor of Yorkville School District’s $159 million referendum for 2 new schools
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- 0:05Voters go in favor of Yorkville School District 159 million referendum for
- 0:10two new schools. This article is being read
- 0:16by an automated voice brought to you by Everlet. Voters came out
- 0:21in support of the 159 million zero tax increase Yorkville School District
- 0:27115 referendum on Tuesday. With all precincts reporting in Kendall County, the
- 0:32proposal had 7,367 yes Voters
- 0:36and 6,030 no votes, and with only early votes counted for two
- 0:40precincts in Kane County, the yes votes were 248 and no votes
- 0:45were 177. The money is for two new schools to address classroom
- 0:51overcrowding. Voters rejected a two hundred seventy-five million dollar referendum in March.
- 0:57The current plans includes a new elementary school and a new middle
- 1:01school to address the capacity issues. The updated referendum eliminates from the
- 1:06last referendum the improvements for the high school, which included a new
- 1:10academic wing. It also eliminates the new Performing Arts Center and Athletic
- 1:16Fieldhouse that were costing a combined 60 million. The board unanimously approved
- 1:22the 159 million referendum on July 13. Following the
- 1:28results coming in, Superintendent Matt Zedeker praised the plan for addressing the
- 1:33needs of the district This work is going to impact our community
- 1:37for the next twenty to twenty five years, Zeddecker said. It's such
- 1:41it’s such an exciting opportunity for us to impact our kids. We
- 1:44as a team are ready to go. Zedeker said he believes the
- 1:48ability to borrow money without a tax increase made all the difference.
- 1:52He said when the district surveyed the community after the previous failed
- 1:55referendum, the zero tax increase was the number one desire from the
- 1:59public. He said, while it's too early to talk about another possible
- 2:04referendum for expansions at the high school in a few years, he
- 2:08believes demonstrating to The community that the district delivers on its promises
- 2:13will help impact the conversation. Zedeker previously said the zero tax increase
- 2:18option is possible because the district projects equalized assessed value will increase
- 2:231 and the district will
- 2:24also have debt that falls off our books. A district hired demographer
- 2:29showed the greatest enrollment growth in the kindergarten through fifth grade schools.
- 2:34The district and the board chose to prioritize middle school and elementary
- 2:38school improvements. The district demographer projected an additional 800 students in
- 2:44the upcoming years.
- 2:45With 500-600 in kindergarten through eighth grade. With the two new buildings,
- 2:51the district would have five elementary schools and two sixth through eighth
- 2:55grade middle schools. This means all students across the district would face
- 3:00the same number of school transitions. It will also enable Circle Center
- 3:05Grade School to become an early childhood center. Zeddecker previously called the
- 3:10addition of two new schools a good first step. He said the
- 3:14district will have to look at long-term solutions for overcrowding issues at
- 3:18the high school, potentially with another future referendum in the next two
- 3:22to three years. Zedeker previously said the district is not counting on
- 3:27payments from the town's influx of proposed data centers because of the
- 3:31uncertainty the projects bring. Zedeker previously said the district is not counting
- 3:37on payments from the town's influx of proposed data centers because of
- 3:41the uncertainty the projects bring. The city slotted sixty-eight million two hundred
- 3:46fifty thousand dollars to the district of the proposed data center development
- 3:50agreements from the developers of Project Cardinal and Project Steel. A few
- 3:55more million could come from the developers of the Cyrus 1 project.
- 3:59All the money is contingent on the final issuances of the building
- 4:03permits.