WONDER LAKE – Harrison School District 36 officials
once again will ask voters to approve a 58-cent tax-rate
increase.
Meanwhile, the school board president said board
members must decide which cuts to make should the
district's third consecutive referendum attempt fail.
Board President Sue Murphy said the board would start
talking about cuts at its Jan. 11 meeting.
Harrison was among five districts to ask voters for
money in the November election. Only Huntley District
158 was successful. Had the referendum passed, the
homeowner of a $200,000 home who claims the $5,000
homestead exemption would have paid an additional
$357.66 in the first year.
"If the [April 5] referendum passes, it will go to
pay off debt and bring some of the programs back,"
Murphy said. "We want to bring back some of the programs
we lost for our kids."
Gym, music, art, the technology program and remedial
reading might be cut for the 2005-06 school year. It is
likely some teachers would lose their jobs, and the
junior high would become self-contained, which means the
seventh- and eighth-grade teachers would teach all
classes, not just their areas of expertise. The library,
which has been closed since the beginning of the year,
will open next year.
The district already cut 19 programs after a 45-cent
tax-rate-increase request failed in March. But
Superintendent Charles Barber said the spelling bee and
yearbook programs were reinstated by the board Dec. 14.
Board member George Wood said the district has
accumulated a $528,000 deficit in the education fund
from 2000 to 2004.
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Murphy said the district is accumulating debt from
unfunded state mandates, such as a recent requirement
for districts to buy defibrillators.
The equipment cost the district $1,200, and
additional money must be spent on staff training, Murphy
said.
Also on the financial forefront are teachers contract
negotiations, which begin in February.
School board member Karen Parks said she will
co-chair the District 36 pro-referendum committee with
Sue Reuss. She said the committee plans to meet Jan. 18
to discuss the groups' tactics and who will do what in
preparation for the election.
"We were at a 1 percent difference between 'yes' and
'no' votes, and hopefully we can get more 'yes' votes
this time," Parks said. "Both times were close enough
that it was worth another try."
