Threatening to eliminate sports and music programs while bombarding voters with information apparently paid off for a Carpentersville-based school district where a property-tax increase and a bond issue to build new schools were approved Tuesday, officials said.
This time the district avoided the missteps of a failed referendum in 2003, when voters complained that they didn’t receive enough facts.
“It’s just a matter of valuing education,” Nancy Zettler, a spokeswoman for the citizens group that supported the measures in Community Unit School District 300. “People are starting to realize that we have to put more stock in our education because these kids are our future and we have to invest in it.”
Similar campaign strategies proved effective for McHenry School District 15, where 62 percent of voters approved a tax increase that averted $2.1 million in cuts in art and music programs.
Voters also approved a school construction measure for Woodstock Community Unit School District 200. However, a property-tax increase and bond issue for new buildings were defeated in Barrington Community Unit District 220.
Voters also turned down a tax increase for Community College District 509, which operates Elgin Community College, and a bond issue for Prairie Grove Community Unit School District 46 in Crystal Lake.
On Wednesday, school marquees throughout District 300 carried the message: “Thank You!” More than 50 percent of voters in McHenry and Kane Counties approved a $15 million tax increase and a $185 million bond issue that will pay for a new high school and three elementary schools in the rapidly growing district.
On Wednesday night, the school board rescinded $8.2 million in cuts, including 82 jobs and extracurricular activities that would have been eliminated districtwide had the measures failed.
Board members said they were up late Tuesday watching election returns and were groggy but also giddy from the win.
“This morning I went to get a haircut and I got accused of being pregnant because I was glowing,” said District 300 board member Susan Kopacz.
“It’s hard asking people for more property taxes,” said board member Mary Warren. “We’ve got to start getting in the faces of our legislators to change the way public education is supported. It is too much of a burden on our residents.”
Advance300, a committee of parents, community leaders and students, led the support campaign, establishing a Web site and enlisting hundreds of volunteers for canvassing, Zettler said.
Zettler also credited students who led rallies and held meetings to educate other students.
McHenry District 15 planned to cut $2.1 million from its budget, eliminating art and music programs at six elementary schools and two middle schools.
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In a district where voters had rejected five previous attempts to raise taxes for the schools, the message finally got through about what pupils risked losing, said Finance Director Alan Smigiel.
In Prairie Grove District 46, voters rejected an $18 million bond issue that would have financed the construction of a new middle school and additions to other buildings.
District officials held informational sessions and set up a Web site that provided facts but they couldn’t overcome voter skepticism.
An opposition group, led in part by Prairie Grove Village President Mike Breseman, questioned projected growth estimates and urged school officials to build additions before planning new construction.
“I don’t think they ever really listened to the community,” Breseman said.
According to unofficial District 509 results, 57 percent of voters rejected a 5 cent increase in the education-fund tax rate that would have helped finance projected enrollment increases at Elgin Community College.
As a consequence, officials are considering tuition increases, said Carole Akemann, a college spokeswoman.
In the aftermath of Tuesday’s loss, Barrington District 220 officials said they were unable to overcome opposition from the Barrington Enlightened Taxpayers Association.
They also had to cope with a snafu that kept the school issues off the Cook County ballot. Voters were handed a sheet of paper at the polls explaining the two measures.
“People weren’t paying attention to what the referendum was,” said board President Deb Etzel. “They were just handed this thing that said, `Do you want to raise your taxes?’ I can’t imagine that that helped us.”
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