Center Cass Community Should Come Together for This Referendum

In disclosure, I am a school board member on the Center Cass School District 66 board of education, but my opinions stated here represent my own thoughts and I do not speak on behalf of the board or school administration.

My name is Brian Liedtke. In addition to my role as a school board member, I'm active in our community through volunteer service on the City of Darien's Planning and Zoning Commission and their Economic Development Committee. I'm a proud father of two amazing daughters, who I am happy to have enrolled in the Center Cass School District. My wife and I specifically chose this little slice of Darien to ensure our daughters came through this District 66 school system. I have a very vested interest in the long-term viability of our treasured community.

I felt compelled to post my own op-ed around the Center Cass referendum because there has been a lot of misinformation around what this referendum is and isn't. There have also been a lot of attempts to try and "silence" my voice on other platforms.

Some community members want to claim that the district has a spending problem. The only thing that would make that claim true is if the district was spending higher per pupil than surrounding districts in the county or state, which is not happening. District 66 operates at a tax rate lower than almost all surrounding school districts, with a community EAV lower than surrounding communities. In addition, according to Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE), District 66 spends less per pupil than not only DuPage County K-8 averages ($2,000 per pupil less), but below state averages ($1,000 per pupil less). Another comparative model, provided by the U.S. Department of Education shows Center Cass spends $5,000 less per pupil spending than DuPage County K-8 average (source: https://oese.ed.gov/ppe/illino...). None of this indicates a spending problem. Some community members want to allege high administrative costs, and while it's true that the average administrator salary is higher than state average, the there are fewer administrators per student than state and county average. When looking at administration pay, you need to look at all factors. District 66 ranks 762nd in administration costs out of 850 districts in Illinois. None of this indicates a spending problem on administration costs.

Some community members want to allege that this referendum is being "hushed" through to the ballot box. Instead, over the last 5 months, the district has responded to over 200 community e-mails, conducted four community nights to share information and answer questions (with one more planned on June 22), distributed a winter and spring newsletter to all District 66 residents (with a summer newsletter being mailed shortly), attended different residential meetings for community and association groups, created a referendum page on the district website, and has publicly discussed the financial situation and referendum at every board meeting. There is no intent to hide or not act transparent.

Another false claim is that the district should not be taking on more debt and that this referendum doesn't make sense since the community has not heard from the school district regarding what it's done to manage costs. This is false however, because this is not a debt referendum. In fact, if the referendum does not pass, the district will need to take on more debt, in the form of tax anticipation warrants, to fund the school year. They will also need to continue the practice of borrowing tax dollars meant for the next fiscal school year, to pay for expenses in the current fiscal school year. This will only increase the debt burden on the community. This referendum is to increase revenues to the district, not to take on additional debt. One aspect of this referendum is to eliminate debt, through using the necessary, new revenues, to abate the prior bond payment, returning between $5-7 million dollars, back to the community, by lowering the bond rate $.01 each year until 2037, when the prior bond referendum is paid off and the district tax rate returns to the $2.65 limiting rate level.

It's also patently false that the district has not indicated what it's done to manage costs. The district has identified over $1.2MM in cost control measures, that started immediately when Dr. Wise was hired as superintendent. It's alleged that Dr. Wise was only brought in to push through a referendum, citing the previous district he served passed a similar referendum just before he left. But these facts are incorrect as Dr. Wise never tried or passed a rate increase referendum as superintendent at his former school district. Olympia CUSD 16 did pass a rate increase referendum in 2007, but Dr. Wise was not the district superintendent during that time (Dr. Wise did help with a referendum to pass a county wide $.01 sales tax increase for facility improvements when he was district superintendent at Olympia CUSD 16, but that was not a property tax increase and a different referendum type completely.)

The district has been accused of using scare tactics, when asked what could happen if the referendum doesn't pass. But these aren't scare tactics, they are the realities of trying to continue to fund a 21st century education on 20th century tax rates. Not only will the district not be able to hire and develop new resources that are needed, but they will also have to make tough decisions on extracurricular services, that are a part of developing the whole student. Local bus service can be reduced, class sizes can increase, sports and activity clubs could get cut. All of which would contribute to a decline in the educational quality of the school, and thus the desirability of the community.

District 66 is already in a financial review status with the state, and the district is no longer able to meet state and federal education standards. Another impact of this referendum not passing is the district's financial rating falling to warning status. In that case, the state could assign a financial oversight panel to take over control. Some community members actively support this, but I'm not sure they fully understand how this works and what the legislation states on this matter. There are two key areas of the statute, where the state financial oversight panel could increase the tax rate without voter approval:

105 ILCS 5/1B-6 (from Ch. 122, paragraph 1B-6) Letter F:
"Approve all property tax levies of the school district and require adjustments thereto as the Panel deems necessary or advisable"

105 ILCS 5/1B-8 (from Ch. 122, paragraph 1B-8):
"In establishing the terms and conditions for the repayment obligation of the school district the Panel shall annually determine whether a separate local property tax levy is required. The board of any school district with a tax rate for educational purposes for the prior year of less than 120% of the maximum rate for educational purposes authorized by Section 17-2 shall provide for a separate tax levy for emergency financial assistance repayment purposes. Such tax levy shall not be subject to referendum approval. The amount of the levy shall be equal to the amount necessary to meet the annual repayment obligations of the district as established by the Panel, or 20% of the amount levied for educational purposes for the prior year, whichever is less. However, no district shall be required to levy the tax if the district's operating tax rate as determined under Section 18-8, 18-8.05, or 18-8.15 exceeds 200% of the district's tax rate for educational purposes for the prior year."

Not only would the community and district lose local control of the school, but they would face a tax increase without a referendum. And that tax increase could potentially be higher than the one being asked for now, because not only would it be needed to support the educational standards required by the state, but to also pay off any debt accumulated during the school district's financial difficulties and costs incurred by the state financial oversight panel.

It's been suggested that the district should consolidate with neighboring school districts. For the record, I'm not opposed to consolidation. There are a lot of school districts in Illinois, which has been pointed out many times. But consolidation as a solution to this problem, is not the right answer. Neighboring school districts, District 61 ($2.95) and District 63 ($2.71) already operate at a higher tax rate than District 66 ($2.30). Center Cass’s current tax rate resides in the lower third of all DuPage County K-8 school districts. Even with a successful referendum, this district would still be below county average. This would be their first such increase in district history, when many school districts have increased their rate over the years. These other school districts already recognize the revenue required to operate their buildings and fund a proper education to meet the development needs of today's students. In addition, no buildings would be eliminated with any type of consolidation as these buildings already operate at capacity. Any consolidation would likely result in a higher tax rate to match what the other districts are already receiving. Any small savings gained in the reduction of superintendents, would be offset with the needed hires of assistant administrators. After any consolidation, the facility issues would still be needed. District 63 has a referendum out for needed HVAC and security updates. District 66 has many of the same facility needs. Consolidation wouldn't fix those and there would still be a much-needed facilities referendum to update these buildings.

There has been a lot of misinformation and false allegations levied against the administration, teachers, and the school district. This is, admittedly, a very complex issue and everybody affiliated with the school administration is available to reach out to for questions, so please do so, instead of potentially being accidentally misinformed or misled by false information. As a community member, you need to vote and you should vote, based on what is most important for you. It's ok, however you decide to vote, I'm not here to tell you to vote one way or the other. I'm just here to make sure you are making an educated vote based on the facts, and not misinformation.

This referendum isn't critical just for the students and the school, but for the community at large. We live in a desirable and highly sought-after community and passage of this referendum will ensure that property values remain growing and that our future remains bright. These students today are tomorrow's neighbors and one of the biggest values of being a community is taking care of each other. Passage of this referendum will mean the district will be able to make major repairs, begin to restore fund balances, maintain current programs and activities, and invest in better school security and student academic programs. All information can also be found on the district's referendum page at: https://www.ccsd66.org/page/di...

Thank you,
Brian Liedtke