Unit 5 held its third and final public meeting on its tax referendum virtually on Tuesday night.
Once again District Superintendent Dr. Kristen Weikle presented her “informational talk” (dog and pony show) arguing why the school district needs an increase in revenue pushing the envelope as far as she could without directly asking people to vote yes for the referendum less she run afoul of the law.
However, during her presentation Weikle did give at least an indication of how desperate the situation is when she plainly stated that even if all extra curricular activities were cut it would only put a dent in the budget deficit.
But that’s about as close to giving you any real measurable impacts of the potential consequences of the referendum failing that you will get from Unit 5 and that’s a problem, for more than one reason.
Superintendent Weikle Gives “Informational Speech” Again at Board Meeting
The main problem is the public doesn’t seem to get it. The questions they ask show they fail to grasp the magnitude of the problem. And that’s on Unit five.
Early in the spring we questioned Unit 5’s process. We asked them to show us the money. We requested a budget forecast that showed what would have to be cut if no referendum was passed. We sent a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) asking for such a document. But we never got it.
Specifically we asked for a line item budget for fiscal year (FY) 2023-24 showing what would have to be cut if no referendum was passed. It’s hard not to believe that such a document doesn’t exist somewhere. But we aren’t well enough funded to have our attorney argue the validity of responses we get from FOIAs. So like you, as an average individual, we can easily be foiled in such attempts.
However, down doesn’t mean your out. And in this case the fact that our questions have merit were borne out by the fact that a source we normally don’t tend to have much in common with has also asked them.
WGLT published an article titled Q&A: The Unit 5 referendum unpacked written by Charlie Schlenker on Aug. 18th. Included in the article were the following tough questions Schlenker asked and the responses provided by Weikle.
- WGLT: If this doesn’t pass, what does the school district look like?
- Weikle: That’s really a question the board is going to have to answer. We do have working cash to help us for the next couple of years. That’s not a long-term solution. If it doesn’t pass, the board would need to assess the election results and make a decision on what to do and direct the admin to move forward.
- WGLT: When they go for referenda, school districts often define what will happen if it does not pass as a signal to voters that this is what’s at stake. Do you plan to do that? Do you plan to say we’re going to propose that we cut X numbers of teachers, X numbers of sports, X numbers of enrichment offerings, and this is how to make the budget balance if this doesn’t pass?
- Weikle: The board will have to decide if they want to put something like that out there. I’ve worked in districts which have done that during (a) referendum. It usually doesn’t do anyone any favors. It makes people worried and makes some people mad. We did make around $2 million worth of cuts last year. We did make reductions. This board has been willing to do that. I can’t say, though, if that’s the direction they’re gonna go or not.
Unfortunately questions often lead to other questions and the question that I ask you right now is what do you think of Weikle’s responses?
If you accept them that is fine. But I think they are weaselly. They don’t really answer the question. In truth they don’t really say anything at all. And that has been the problem the whole time.
The fact Unit 5 has not been clear regarding the magnitude of the problem is the reason the community doesn’t really grasp the seriousness of the situation. And that’s a problem for those that want support from the public.
The budget problem is huge. People have a reason to be worried. If I were a Unit 5 employee facing the possibility that 200 staff members may need to be let go over the next four years should the referendum fail I’d be scared to.
But a public well informed of the sense of urgency for a referendum to pass would lead to a constituency that would be eager to work for its passage.
Cities 92.9 Interviews Unit 5’s Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
And people have good reason to be angry. Illinois property taxes are higher than every surrounding states.
But the failure to impress on residents of Unit 5 the magnitude of the problem has left the impression that the issue can be resolved by such things as; cutting all extracurriculars, finding out what happened to the ESSER funds, using the Rivian money and etc. when the truth is doing all these things still wouldn’t lead to an extra $20 million a year in Unit 5’s operating budget.
If I could have had my druthers on this one I would have like to have seen some kind of meeting in the middle on this issue. If $20 million more a year is needed by Unit 5, I would have preferred some sort of compromise where $10 million of cuts would have been offered and $10 million of revenue asked for. But I didn’t get my druthers.
Instead Unit 5 has pushed all their chips forward and gone all in on a $20 million referendum. On November 8th we will see how the gamble works out.
