Facing a Jan. 17 deadline to have a referendum question placed on the April ballot, the Norridge School District 80 Board held its regular meeting Dec. 13 without delving into the specifics of what a new question could look like.
Since the November failure of the $60.6 million referendum, which sought to replace Giles and Leigh schools with a new building and stave off imminent cuts to staff levels and academic programs, the board has faced scrutiny from some taxpayers who have said its members lack either the ability or the will to communicate with the community. The board since has put together a deficit planning committee that will make final recommendation to the school board for a new ballot question in early January, Superintendent Paul O’Malley said.
Officials plan for another referendum attempt in the April 4 election. A special school board meeting to vote on the final referendum question is scheduled for Jan. 16.
Norridge Mayor James Chmura, one of the local officials invited to weigh in on the discussion, has said the timing was unfavorable because of the holidays and that he had declined to participate in any formal recommendations regarding the referendum.
“I gave [the school district] some ideas, but when it comes down to it they have to sit down and do their own work,” Chmura said. “People ask me why I can’t help the schools. But I can’t give them money; they have to come up with their own solutions.”
Among the 4,733 votes cast in Leyden and Norwood Park townships on Nov. 8, 77 percent voted against the referendum, according to election results from the Cook County Clerk.
Faced with a pair of deteriorating buildings in need of millions of dollars in repairs, school district leaders now must decide how to alter the district’s original plan to build a new combined school and raise enough money to save a number of academic programs at risk of being cut. If the new ballot question fails, a board-approved budget deficit reduction plan would kick in for the 2017-18 school year. Officials said it would trigger $750,000 in cuts that target full-day kindergarten, band, music, art, sports and other programs. That money would be shifted to fund infrastructure needs that exist in both Giles and Leigh schools, officials said.
An additional $800,000 in cuts would be possible for 2018-19, and those reductions could affect special education, support staff, nurses, custodians and would cut the teaching staff in half, according to estimates from the school district.
Some school board members during the Dec. 13 board meeting — including Pasquale Biondo, Christian Giacalone and Jennifer Paoletti — mulled over reasons why the referendum didn’t pass, citing negative comments posted on social media and a lack of concise information made available to the senior population, among other reasons.
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Natalie Hayes is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.