Referendum Will 'Rip the Heart Out of Highland Park': Letter

The following letter was written and submitted by Andrew Plasz.

The referendum proposed by District 112 is a very bad idea. Right now, we have an elementary school district that is the envy of the state. If this passes we will lose our small, neighborhood schools where each child is a name, not a number. This will rip the heart out of Highland Park. In exchange for this catastrophe, the school board wants to borrow huge amounts of money, raise our taxes, increase traffic congestion, and bus almost every middle school student (and many elementary school students) across town.

The finances of this proposal are dubious. The board proposes a $198 million referendum because it needs to save money. The cost is much more than $198 million. The school board does not even have a firm number as to what this cost will be. Their estimates of the capitalized cost of the bond issue are up to $366 million dollars. That would represent an interest expense of $168 million dollars over the 30 year life of the bond issue. Given that the district expects to save $120 to $130 million over that period, this makes no sense. Why would we pay $168 million to save $120 million? Moreover, the board has chosen to run a less than transparent process. The board has not presented a detailed work up of a less disruptive plan for reconfiguration. The mere fact that we will have a new building for our middle school students is hardly a reason to proceed with this plan. The older buildings we already have are solidly built (and in many cases historic) structures. If properly maintained, they will probably outlast any school building built today. While I am sure that a new building will conform to the latest fads in educational theory, those fads, whatever they may be, will soon scatter like the wind. We have a choice on March 15th. We can vote to keep Highland Park as it is – a unique community of close-knit neighborhoods. Or we can choose to emulate communities that are plagued by suburban sprawl, congested traffic, mediocre schools and run away taxes. This is nothing less than a choice between continuing to be a real place or embracing the geography of nowhere. The choice is clear. Please vote “NO” on the referendum.

Andrew Plasz