More Than 70 Teachers Will be Fired if Referendum Fails: Letter

The following letter was written and submitted by Bev Beck.

The D112 referendum is creating excitement, confusion and dividing our community into 3 categories: “YES”, “NO” and “undecided” voters.

Within the “YES” and “NO” groups, each person has unique reasons for his/her choice. D112’s referendum is different from recent D113 referendum because the passage or failure of the D112 referendum results in significantly different outcomes for different people.

I come to my “YES” vote from a place of trust and the belief that this is the best solution to a problem decades in the making. This current board, administration, teachers and hundreds of community volunteers came to this years long process with open minds, a passion for educational excellence and love of this community and the children who reside here. There is no smoking gun or hidden agenda. This process has been transparent, well publicized and and the district tirelessly worked to engage those with questions up to speed as quickly as possible. I don’t believe the board approved Budget Deficit Reduction #3 (BDR #3) as a scare tactic to manipulate the community into voting “YES”, but rather were planning for future contingencies just as we should expect of our elected officials.

To the undecided voters among you:

1) If you have children who are not yet D112 age:

Your family represents the immediate future of our district. All of our surrounding communities (from North Chicago to Evanston) have full day kindergarten and the evidence is clear that students who attend full day kindergarten benefit academically, socially and emotionally. A “YES” adds full-day Kindergarten in D112. A “NO” vote results in the implementation of BDR #3, and the release of 70+ of our teachers (Reduction of Force or RIF) and provides neither space nor funding for full-day kindergarten. Class sizes will go up and program offerings will go down. A “YES” vote ensures that we can retain our experienced teachers. I deeply wish my current 7th graders could have all the academic, extra curricular and social benefits and advantages that the consolidated 5/6 and 7/8 middle schools will create for your children. I served on the configuration committee of SFAC and believe that the consolidated middle school option has been vetted by our administration, our board members and, most importantly, our teachers.

2) If you currently have school-aged children in D112:

Your students will be the ones most immediately impacted by the success or failure of the referendum. If the referendum passes, older elementary or middle school students will stay at their schools with their friends and teachers while construction begins. Existing funds will not be siphoned off for life safety and consolidation so curriculum and programming will remain in place or be enhanced with a “YES” vote. If the referendum fails, your school-aged child will be impacted in many ways that we already understand and many we don’t even want to imagine. A “NO” vote means that your child may change schools even if your school remains open since boundaries will shift. A failed referendum means more children in your child’s classroom with less individualized attention from his/her teacher. If the referendum fails, the teachers in your school (or in the middle school to which you are going to matriculate) may search for a job right away in another community because they are unsure if they will be retained in a RIF situation or are worried about working under such an adverse situation for a financially challenged district.

3) If you have students at D113 but no longer in NSSD112

Your children benefited from the building additions and curriculum that the influx of the 1998 referendum money provided. However, your children’s education experience was still significantly different from the children with whom they combined when they arrived at HPHS. Our three middle schools have different academic programming, different social experiences and significantly different extra-curriculars. The middle school model addresses those challenges while keeping the children in pods of 120 students. As hard as it might be to imagine that future children will be attending different schools due to new construction or shifting boundaries, A “NO” vote ensures 4 schools closing without additions or life safety work, 70+ teachers RIF’d and the quality of education and extra-curriculars diminished. A “YES” vote allows for an optimal and consistent educational experience for all students and will improve their transition to the high school.

4) If your children were educated at 107/108/111 years ago

Your children were well educated years ago, perhaps in buildings that are no longer schools or perhaps in configurations that no longer exist today. You have seen boundaries shift and educational outcomes remain intact because the school boards continued to prioritize small class sizes. You may be thinking of selling your home in the near future. A NO vote can result in your property value diminishing if the actual or perceived quality of education changes in D112. Young homebuyers will look to our neighboring communities, most of whom have recently successfully passed elementary school referendums. The harsh reality of a “NO” vote results in the implementation of BDR #3. If Ravinia joins the list of Elm Place, Lincoln, and Green Bay as closed schools and the children are consolidated into the remaining current buildings instead of converting Edgewood and Northwood into more spacious and updated elementary schools, it stands to reason that with larger class sizes, mobile classrooms, reduced programming and teacher RIFs, the values of our homes will drop. Lake Forest and Wilmette have already embraced the single middle school model with great success and it has enhanced, not detracted, from their home values in those communities Others before you paid their taxes to educate your children years ago and voting YES ensures that you can do the same for the next generation.

5) If you are a College student or recent grad:

If you found that D112 provided you with a foundation on which you are building your continued education and/or your life’s work, please pay it forward to “younger you”. If you felt that the small class sizes in D112 and the ratio of teachers to students benefited you, please help your childhood community continue the tradition of excellence for the next generation. One day, you might want to come back to HP/HW/FS to raise your family and you will want to find the schools to be as good---if not better—than what you remember and experienced. The retention of small class sizes, gifted and fine arts education, experienced teachers and connected social experiences will continue the excellence in D112 education that you experienced and keep our district solvent for years in the future.

6) If you live in HP but have no connection or interest in the politics surrounding school issues and are just excited for Election Day to come and go so the nonsense will stop.

The fastest way to see our community return to civility while retaining your property values is to vote “YES”. A “NO” vote kicks the can down the road AGAIN. A “NO” vote again in November results in painful school closures and consolation of children into schools that are too small and boundary shifts in August of 2017. A “NO” vote extends the turmoil and indecision and is a step backward for our community.

We all stand together at this fork in the road. Some wish that the fork had many paths. Those options were explored in great detail and this path was mapped out as the most cost effective and equitable plan for the greatest number of students in our community.

There are only two paths.

One leads forward; one leads backward.

Some have chosen their path and are hoping you will travel with them.

I am one of those people.

Please travel forward with me and with so many others by voting YES on March 15.