Latest / Kendall County News - Shaw Local / Yorkville school superintendent calls facilities plan under proposed $159M referendum a ‘good first step’

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Yorkville school superintendent calls facilities plan under proposed $159M referendum a ‘good first step’ · Kendall County News - Shaw Local

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  Yorkville School Superintendent calls facilities plan under proposed 159 million
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  referendum a good first step. This
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  article is being read by an automated voice, brought to you by
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  Everlett. Yorkville School District 115 Superintendent Matt Zeddecker said
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  the district is focused on giving the community a voice at the
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  table ahead of November, when voters will decide on a 159 million
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  referendum for two new school buildings to address overcrowding issues. The new
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  referendum is a tax-neutral option, and follows in the wake of the
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  275 million referendum for school, improvements and expansions that voters rejected in
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  March. The upcoming November 3rd ballot contains plans for a new elementary
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  school and a new middle school. The up updated referendum eliminates from
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  the last post-referendum the improvements for the high school, which included a
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  new academic wing. It also eliminates the new Performing Arts Center and
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  Athletic Fieldhouse that were costing a combined 60 million. Zedeker said the
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  district listened to the community in a post referendum survey, and through
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  public meetings, leading to the conclusion that a zero tax increases option
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  was the desire of the community. The board unanimously approved the one
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  hundred fifty nine million dollars referendum on july thirteenth. Zedeker said the
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  zero tow tax increase option is possible possible because the district projects.
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  Equalize assessed value, will increase one percent and the district will also
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  have debt that falls off our books. Zedeker said the district can
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  commit the money it was paying for the previous debt and move
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  it over to cover the new debt. If approved by voters, the
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  159 million will be combined with 20 million in reserve funds to
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  support the projects. The board allowed us as an administration to work
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  within those confines that whatever amount we borrow, we have to ensure
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  that the tax rate doesn't change based on the face that we
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  were going to borrow money, Zeddecker said. He said, reports from a
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  district-hired demographer showed the greatest enrollment growth in
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  the kindergarten through fifth grade schools. The district and the board chose
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  to prioritize middle school and elementary school improvements. The district demographer
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  projected an additional 800 students in the upcoming years. With the two
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  new buildings, the district would have five elementary school and 2 sixth
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  through 8th grade middle schools. This means all students across the district
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  would face the same number of school transitions. This will be a
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  good first step in The community addressing the overcrowding challenges that our
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  district sees, Zeddecker said. That doesn't mean we aren't going to have
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  to look at our high school in the future, because we certainly
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  are. Zeddecker said projected student growth will eventually compound overcrowding
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  issues at the
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  high school That
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  will come with its own price tag. He said the district is
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  not counting on payments from the town's influx of proposed data centers
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  because of the uncertainty the projects bring. The city slotted 68,250,000
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  to the district of the proposed data center development agreements from the
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  developers of Project Cardinal and Project Steel. A few more million could
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  come from the developers of The
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  Cyrus One project. All the money is contingent on the final issuances
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  of the building permits. Zedeker said a future referendum for the high
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  school is not off the table. That will be a community conversation
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  that we have to have a couple years down the road, Zedeker
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  said. We're going to have to reengage the community in the next
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  two to three years around that conversation. Zedeker said, The district will
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  have to return to focusing on the high school in two to
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  three years, but called the upcoming referendum a good first step in
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  addressing overcrowding issues. The district's post-referendum survey had almost 1,100
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  responses, and the general takeaway was they indicated an appreciation for the
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  overcrowding challenges, but they were looking for a no-tax increase solution to
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  try to address that overcrowding, Zedakrissa said. He stressed the money listed
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  in the referendum cannot be used for salaries or anything outside of
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  what the referendum specifically states. Zedeker invited the community to attend upcoming
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  town halls beginning at the end of September and to continue responding
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  to district surveys. We want to have that community voice at the
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  table when we're talking about both the future of the district and
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  also the Yorkville community, Zeddecker said. The district series of town hall
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  meetings begins 6.30 p.m. September 29th at Yorkville Middle School.