After nearly a year of campaigning, Warren Township High School District 121’s referendum on raising the limiting rate appears to have headed for passage with 53.4% of the vote, with 100% of precincts reporting.
If the unofficial results hold, the district would receive approximately $13.25 million more in taxes from residents in the district each year, according to the district’s assistant superintendent of business services and operations, Michael Engel.
“The community deserves this, they really do,” Engel said. “It’s been a long time coming.”
The referendum would result in a tax increase of $16.67 per month, or $200 a year, for every $100,000 of a home’s fair market value.
The last time that a limiting rate was approved for District 121 was approximately 20 years ago, when voters approved a 12-cent limiting rate increase. As a result of the district’s financial woes, it has cut 66 positions over the last few years, and was not able to rehire coaching staff and the district’s band director to new contracts for the upcoming school year that commences in six weeks, according to Engel.
While Engel said that the funds from the limiting rate increase won’t come in for close to 18 months, the district’s first priorities are hiring coaching staff for its sports teams and hiring a band director, adding that they’ll be posting listings for the jobs as soon as possible.
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“About a third of our coaching staff and our clubs and activities, we don’t have anything planned for, or lined up yet,” Engel said. “We didn’t have contracts for those people, and if you didn’t have a contract or a job you’d be looking for something else up, wouldn’t you? I’m hopeful we can fill nine out of 10 positions in the next month, but I’m sure more will be more difficult to find. We’re going to figure stuff out.”
The district’s school board President Paul Schulz said that the district plans on getting some entry-level sports going at the district before the school year begins.
“They’ve already been canceled,” Schulz said. “The schedules are out and Warren’s not on there, so we’re going to try and get those in there. We’re going to do the best we can to save the programs that were at risk if this didn’t pass.”
This referendum comes a year after a failed attempt to raise the tax rate by the district was rejected by voters in April 2021.
Both Schulz and Engel credit the change in results from last year’s failed referendum to community support, including the families of the district’s students.
“There was an enormous amount of community support behind the referendum, and we owe so many people a big thank you for all of the efforts to get the word out and educate people,” Schulz said.
Schulz added that district officials used the failed referendum in 2021 as a lesson for this year’s, as they spent more time getting the word out to community members about what was at stake for the district if this referendum failed, holding numerous informational events on the financial problems the district was facing.
“I’m glad that future Blue Devils are going to receive the same strong educational opportunities that those that preceded them did,” Schulz said. “It’s great that we get to preserve academics, athletics and clubs for future students.”