School Funding Reform Town Hall Meeting May 11 at Sandburg HS

Consolidated High School District 230 and its six partner school districts including 117, 118, 127, 135, 140 and 146 stand to lose between $6.2 million $15.7 million in state funding under the newly proposed Senate Bill 1 School Funding Reform Act, according to figures released by the Illinois State Board of Education. The amount lost is directly dependent on a proposed infusion of between $500 million to $86 million in new funds to support Senate Bill 1.

Combined the school districts represent the eighth largest population in the state with 155,955 residents and serve nearly 25,000 students.

The school districts continue joint efforts to educate the community and local legislators about the devastating impact this could have on schools and the local community.

Community members are invited to a town hall meeting on Monday, May 11 from 6:00 until 7:30 p.m. at Sandburg High School in the Performing Arts Center. Participants will hear from District 230 School Board President Rick Nogal, District 135 School Board President Joe LaMargo, and EDGE Illinois Community Advocate Debbie Chafee. State Senators and Representatives have also confirmed that they will attend and answer questions from the community.

Senate Bill 1 takes the place of Senate Bill 16 from the previous legislative session which was widely discussed at two town hall meetings held by District 230 and its partner districts this past fall. The District 230 School Board also coordinated a call to action for community members to contact elected officials. Materials from these efforts can be found on the District website.

In addition, Superintendent Dr. James M. Gay testified at a joint legislative hearing in the fall. Gay and School Board Vice President Patrick O’Sullivan had private meetings with the sponsor of the school funding reform bill Senator Andy Manar, House Minority Leader Representative Jim Durkin and Senator Bill Cunningham in February in Springfield. Gay returned to Springfield last week in conjunction with the Illinois High School District Organization to meet with legislators and the governor.

“Our joint efforts with our partner districts to inform legislators and educate the community about the devastating impact of this legislation were successful,” said Nogal. “We, along with our partner elementary districts and advocates across the state, stopped Senate Bill 16 and forced Springfield to go back to the drawing board.”

“Our efforts reduced District 230’s proposed funding loss from to between $412,000 and $2.4 million depending on the amount of new funding allocated for Senate Bill 1. However, in one scenario provided by the Illinois State Board of Education, District 230 could still stand to lose $7 million,” Nogal said. “We are grateful that the General Assembly has responded to some of our concerns and possibly reduced the impact on District 230. The flaw is that it assumes an additional $500 million in funding for public education in a state that is still last in state funding.”

The newly proposed Senate Bill 1, however, still has a significant negative impact on the majority of District 230’s partner school districts.

“Our work to protect the best interest of our community is far from over,” said Nogal. “The success of our partner schools is vital to District 230. We will continue to work collaboratively with our partner districts to fight for our community.”

“District 230 remains vigilant in being informed about the newly proposed legislation, in assuring our students’ best interests are represented in future discussions, and in keeping the community informed and involved,” said Nogal. “You can be assured that our school board and administration will remain on top of this important legislation and will continue to assure that District 230’s voice is heard.”


NOTE:
Details regarding Senate Bill 1 can be found on the Illinois State Board of Education website.