All systems go as District
62 launches referendum mission
By Erin Holmes Daily
Herald Staff Writer Posted
Among the final steps in
the detailed referendum plan of attack handed to Des Plaines Elementary
District 62 board members Monday was a simple, optimistic order:
"Celebrate!"
That's on the agenda for
November, after the votes are cast. But there are plenty of to-dos between now
and then, and the school board Monday sunk its teeth into some of them -
welcoming the three co-chairs of a referendum steering committee, OK'ing a
contract for a community survey and reviewing an exhaustive list of ways to
spread the facts about the looming tax hike request.
"We need to make sure
all of our staff and our parents and our partners are on the same page,"
district spokesperson Mindy Ward told the board. Former district board member
James Blue, Wheeling Elementary District 21 employee and District 62 parent
Julie Luck-Jensen and World War II veteran and community member Vincent Powers
have stepped up to lead the referendum push as co-chairs of the campaign
steering committee.
Together with volunteers,
they'll help raise funds, get the word out in the community with phone calls,
local cable commercials and yard signs and work on voter registration, among
numerous other tasks.
Also aiding the effort
will be a telephone survey conducted by Lemont-based Dave Fako
and Associates. The board Monday approved shelling out no more than $11,000 for
the roughly 10-minute, 30-question survey in early July, which will solicit
opinions from 300 residents to gauge attitude about the district, its schools
and finances. The data will be delivered to the school board in mid-July.
The board this spring
agreed to seek a tax increase request. The exact amount of the hike will be
discussed in August. Should the effort prove successful, the extra cash would
be plugged into a fledgling education fund, which helps pay for things like
teacher salaries, school programs and materials.
Anyone wishing to
volunteer for the referendum effort can contact the district's main office,