Seeking a financial solution to overcrowded schools, the Diamond Lake District 76 school board is expected to put an $8 million building referendum question on the March ballot.
Supt. Roger Prosise said the board will vote on the issue at its Dec. 14 meeting.
The money would go to add about 30 classrooms to the district’s three schools–one middle and two elementary–which serve 1,215 students from Mundelein, Vernon Hills and Long Grove.
Enrollment has increased by more than 400 students in the past decade, a trend that is projected to continue, Prosise said. Teachers are using former storage areas as classrooms, and trailers have been put into use.
“If the referendum fails, then we will be forced to increase class size and look at possibly cutting programs,” Prosise said.
The tax increase would cost the owner of a $150,000 home an additional $144 a year in property taxes for 20 years, Prosise said.
The school board last week decided against coupling the building referendum with a request for more money for the district’s operations and maintenance fund, fearing the additional tax increase would jeopardize approval of the building request.
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