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posted by Candidate at
3:04 PM
7 Comments:
From The Northwest Herald
D-46's growth rate disputed
PRAIRIE GROVE – The Village Board president and the principal behind two large subdivisions publicly disputed District 46's growth projections, two weeks before residents vote on a referendum to build a new school.
While the Terra Cotta and Tall Grass subdivisions inevitably will add students to the district, they will not do so at the rate that the district has insinuated in the months leading up to the election, Village President Mike Breseman said at a special board meeting Monday billed as a community information forum.
"We called this to get the facts out that the immediate impact will not be as fast as the school board is saying," Breseman said.
Rapid growth is the selling point of the $18 million bond referendum to build a new junior high school and improve its two existing schools.
District officials said the tax rate would stay the same because of refinanced bonds and increased developer fees.
Although board members did not publicly express their political views, District 46 board President Laura Domoto said Monday evening that holding such a meeting raised ethical questions.
"Why would the village get involved in questioning the information that the school is putting out?" she asked. "I don't understand why the village of Prairie Grove would be doing this."
One dispute highlighted at the meeting is a flier that the district sent home with students Friday quoting Richard Swanson, principal of Westminster Swanson, the company designing both subdivisions. In a response to Superintendent Mary Fasbender dated Monday, Swanson wrote that the reprinted comments could be misconstrued as stating that the projected student increases would happen right away, rather than be phased in over many years.
Swanson also expressed disappointment that his informational letter was used in district literature distributed to parents.
"We do not believe our letter should have been used to support a political agenda," Swanson wrote. "I want to make sure my previous letter is not taken out of context. Regardless of the outcome, we only wish to clarify our position and not imply any support or opposition in this matter."
District 46 anticipated in the flier that the planned subdivisions – including Preston Pines in Crystal Lake, which is being developed by Ryland Homes – eventually would add 709 students to the district. But Domoto said growth elsewhere already was boosting enrollment that she said was near capacity.
"All of our growth does not just come from Prairie Grove – it's unincorporated Crystal Lake, McHenry and Burtons Bridge," Domoto said. "Our district comprises five other communities besides Prairie Grove."
Undecided voter Keith McConnell said he remained undecided after the meeting, but he has new questions regarding District 46's numbers.
"I find it confusing that the school asked for a certain amount of money, and it's difficult to determine whether that's appropriate and determine the impact on my tax bill," McConnell said.
District 46 has held informational meetings of their own leading up to the referendum. The next is scheduled for 7 p.m. March 16 in the multipurpose room of Prairie Grove Elementary School, 3223 Route 176.
By KEVIN P. CRAVER
kcraver@nwherald.com
By
Candidate, at 5:17 AM
So glad Keith McConnell decided to give his opinion....he lives in Oak Grove which is in school district 47.
By
Anonymous, at 6:49 AM
Wonder how school officials refinanced the 1997 bonds in 2003.
Have we paid off any principal on the existing Junior High?
Are taxpayers just paying more interest on top of the interest paid since 1997?
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Anonymous, at 11:04 AM
It's happening in other communities as well. Check out this comment from a resident in District 210.
http://www.studentsfirst.us/news/contentview.asp?c=175722
We need to send a message that we are not going to let this happen in District 46. Vote "NO" on March 21.
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Candidate, at 7:08 PM
Mr. Breseman, you are consistent.
First it was your illegal threats to the school to hold impact fees hostage if they did not give up the right of way on Rt.176 which YOU demanded. Then you illegally threaten to hold the land hostage. Why all the abuse and destruction when you could simply grab the right of away on the north side of 176 as it goes commercial?
What is your problem? Why the arrogance? Why the ongoing, unrelenting ax to grind with our schools? Will you stop at anything to get your way? The school had to spend countless, unnecessary hours in meetings, hire consultants and spend thousands of dollars defending your personal attack. I’m tired of your arrogance and spending my tax dollars on your personal agenda!
Now you have the audacity to host a public meeting last Monday stating the purpose “is to allow the greater community to plan for the impact of these developments over the coming years.” What nonsense! The bottom line is the letter the schools sent out on Friday quoting Rick Swanson caught you off guard. The letter created a hurdle in your plan to kill the referendum. So you immediately called and asked Swanson to rescind the letter, which he declined. Then Duda threatens Rick Swanson with “read between the lines” emails to be in our village hall on Monday with virtually no notice. Now you have the consultants, Swanson and the NW Herald as your captive audience. Then you carry on with your political game of “catch” with Rick Swanson….I’ll ask the questions Rick, you just answer them. Swanson is a smart man and did a great job being your pawn because he had no choice. He has millions of dollars at stake and needs to maintain positive relationships with our village officials to keep his developments on track. Regardless of your personal agenda, he needs to side with you because his personal agenda is to sell land to developers as quickly as possible.
I want to see the agenda that was published for this meeting. I want to see the prior meeting minutes showing that “exaggerated growth” has ever been a topic of a village meeting. I know there isn’t any because you took your personal agenda to the village hall. Your self-serving, unethical leadership, abuse of power and illegal use of taxpayer’s money to fulfill your personal agenda is going to stop. I am not going to allow my tax dollars pay for professional consultants to support your personal agenda to bury our schools. The States Attorney has been contacted and investigations on your ethics will follow. Enough is enough.
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Anonymous, at 8:39 PM
Dear 10:38pm:
I am not only pro-school….I am pro-“great” school; and, I am willing to do my fair share to get one. I want smaller parent-teacher ratios in classrooms, better academics and activities, improved safety and a beautiful campus to demonstrate why our community is a great place to live and work. In order to achieve this vision for a great school, it must not only offer an outstanding environment for learning…but, a great school is also financially sound. Great schools have outstanding leadership and make prudent decisions based on reality. Great schools are wonderful for real estate values and future appreciation. They are wonderful for our children’s future.
Your post above is eerily similar to the post from Mr. Huerth (Steve Todd) last week in another part of this blog. It is filled with accusations, personal attacks and misleading information. After reading your statements carefully, I believe you are suggesting that the community should blindly “trust” school leadership. You seem to be highly offended that an elected official is seeking reality based information to help citizens make an informed choice. Do I have this correct?
You also seem to accuse the developer, Rick Swanson, as being a mindless “pawn” that is being forced to answer questions in a manner that is inconsistent with his expert opinion. Take a deep breath “Dear 10:38pm - Mr. Huerth (Steve Todd)”…do you really think Mr. Swanson would provide misleading information that might slow down the development of a village “show-piece” and benefit the value of our homes (and his new home development). Mr. Swanson is a businessman with a large vested stake in our community and understands that a bankrupt school is bad business for everyone.
“Dear 10:38pm Mr. Huerth (Steve Todd)” lets get to the real truth so we can make the best decisions for our community. Help me, and the rest of District 46 answer the following questions:
Why has District 46 school leadership misled the public by deciding not to disclose to the community that the revenue collected from the last referendum exceeded what was approved by taxpayers? Defending her position, Dr. Fasbender stated publicly that the decision not to disclose the unapproved tax windfall to District 46 taxpayers was based on advice she received from her consultants. Are Dr. Fasbender and the school board exercising good judgment relating to the use of public taxes? Do our leaders need to demonstrate a higher level of accountability?
Whose assumptions are the school leaders using to support their current referendum plan? How old are the assumptions? The developer seems like the most knowledgeable source for the build-out…why would you attack the developer’s information as of Monday this week? Why attack his personal and business competence? Do you believe that the developer does not want a prosperous community with outstanding schools to support his investment?
Why have school officials not been open and forthcoming with all of their assumptions and information? Do they believe that the community is not capable of understanding? Or, would the information used to support the referendum, if fully exposed, explained and reconciled with the experts possibly highlight that the referendum plan is not a prudent move at this point in time?
Why attack the NW Herald as being in the back pocket of an elected official? It seems that everyone/anyone that simply questions your position is part of an evil conspiracy. I hope this is not the environment that the school board operates in during its closed door meetings.
Why is questioning assumptions and seeking the truth an “unrelenting ax to grind with our schools”? I do not understand why any leader would be opposed to open forums and the opinions of experts with a vested interest in our community.
“Dear 10:38pm Mr. Huerth (Steve Todd)”, I have one more question and an answer:
Q: How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg?
A: Four; calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg…. Abraham Lincoln
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