District 15 Needs $130M Referendum to Pass to Build 2 New Schools; How Will You Vote? (POLL)

PALATINE, IL — If Community Consolidate School District 15 want two new schools, officials are going to need to convince district residents to vote for a $130 million referendum in November to make it happen.

The district took the first step to convincing voters Wednesday when it unveiled its plan to build a new kindergarten through fifth-grade elementary school and a new sixth- through eighth-grade middle school, the Daily Herald reports. These new additions would force the district to close Gray Sanborn Elementary, its oldest school and require changing enrollment boundaries and bus routes, the report added.

If the referendum is passed, the new elementary school would be go up in the northeast corner of the district on property currently owned by the Palatine Park District, the report stated. District 15 hopes to purchase that property but hasn't secured an agreement with the park district yet, the report added.

The new middle school would be in Inverness, on district-owned land off Ella Road, the Herald reports.

Approval of the bond referendum would tack on an additional $122 in property taxes for a homeowner with a $227,500 house, the district's median home value, according to the report. District officials say that if the bond referendum doesn't pass in November, the cost of building the schools will increase about $5.2 million each additional year the construction isn't approved, report added.

YOUR TURN: What do you think about the district's plan to build two new schools? Is this a good idea? Share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section. Plus, take Patch's poll on how you plan to vote on the $130 million referendum in November.

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