The Mokena Elementary District 159 board has approved a $5.9 million tax levy.
Although the 1997 levy, which will be collected in 1998, will be higher than the 1996 levy of slightly more than $5 million, the tax rate is not expected to rise because the increase is based on new growth, according to Assistant Supt. Pat Chesla.
The levy, approved last week, allocates $4.47 million for the educational fund; $649,000 for the operation and maintenance fund; $295,000 for transportation; $120,000 for the working cash fund; $97,500 for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund; $122,500 for Social Security; $89,500 for tort immunity; $52,000 for special education; and $25,500 for fire prevention and safety.
In other recent business, Supt. Roger Reardon said a 12-member committee has been researching the middle school concept, which a number of school districts have used in place of a junior high school for 6th-, 7th- and 8th-grade students.
In addition to visiting middle schools and studying the system, the committee also developed a mission statement outlining the district’s goal to “provide early adolescents with opportunities for academic and social growth in order to be successful in a dynamic global society.”