Center Cass Group Wants To Reduce Hard Feelings

DARIEN, IL – A local group says it wants to build better relationships among Center Cass School District 66 residents in the wake of last year's tax hike referendum.

In an interview Thursday, Tom Tedeschi, co-chairman of the Community Engagement Forum, said hard feelings remain from the battle over the tax increase, which voters passed by a small margin in November. He said the group wants to address such sentiments.

"I want to make sure the community understands that we are certainly committed to work with it to build positive relationships with all the people who have a vested interest in our school district and who are affected by it," said Tedeschi, the district's band director.

Last week, district officials said the Community Engagement Forum was no longer a board-run committee. It was originally part of a pre-election effort to build more "meaningful connections" with residents.

Tedeschi and others indicated they disliked Patch's story on Wednesday titled, "Center Cass Backs Off Effort To Build Ties." He said the story's message was that the district was cutting its ties to the community, which he said was not the case.

"The members were a bit taken aback," he said.

The committee, he said, is continuing its efforts, though not as an official arm of the district. At last week's school board meeting, district officials indicated they would attend meetings if invited.

"It's a volunteer group of people who feel we can have an impact on changing the atmosphere of the community," Tedeschi said.

The other co-chairman is Melinda Nowak.