A controversial proposal to sell all schools in Bensenville District 2 except one and use the money to head off a financial crisis is a long way from a done deal, a district official said.
“A lot of things have to fall into place before this can happen,” District 2 Assistant Supt. James Bauer told a public forum in Bensenville. “The Village Board must approve. The state building grant has to come through. Our board has to approve it. Right now, it’s only on the drawing board, and almost anybody can kill it.”
Under the plan, all four elementary schools would be sold to Bensenville, and all district students would be taught in an expanded Blackhawk Middle School.
“It’s too early for us to form an opinion because I don’t think District 2 has researched it enough to answer all the questions. We’re going to wait and see and analyze the impact this could have on our enrollment,” said Rosalyn Parisi, board president of Fenton School District 100, who attended the forum at Blackhawk. District 2 feeds into Fenton High School.
The plan calls for Chippewa, Tioga, Johnson and Mohawk Elementary Schools to be sold to Bensenville for $20.7 million. The village would raze the schools and offer the parcels to residential developers. It would issue tax increment financing (TIF) bonds to raise cash for the project, enabling District 2 to get all its money up front.
The school district also could get up to $7 million in state construction grant money for an addition to Blackhawk.
School officials estimate the addition would cost the district an estimated $20 million, leaving $7.7 million from the sale price to put toward the district’s debt — $3.9 million in the education fund alone — and to enhance its struggling academic programs.
District 2’s Illinois State Achievement Test scores last year were among the lowest in the western suburbs, with 25 to 35 percent of district 3rd graders falling short of state goals in reading, writing and math, and 48 percent of 8th graders falling short in math.
Bauer also said the district’s debt would mean cutting 30 teachers to avoid running out of money by 2008 “if this plan falls through or a miracle doesn’t occur.”
He told the 90 or so residents at the forum that six tax-increase referendum questions have failed in the last 11 years.
The move also would provide long-term savings because the district would have to maintain only one newer building instead of five older ones, Bauer said. And putting the four elementary school sites back on the tax rolls would bring in needed revenue down the road, even though local taxing bodies would see no money until the TIF bonds expired in 2024, he said.
The TIF district troubles District 100 officials because any homes built on the school sites could bring new students into Fenton High School without new property taxes to help pay for their education.
“We’re tight now,” said Fenton board member Dorothy Lange. “An extra 50 kids could put us over the edge on space and make us build. Where’s our help if that happens?”
Fenton board member Edward Tully said he thinks the proposal “is a pretty good deal so far. I don’t really see that they have any other choice, given their financial situation.”
District 2 Supt. Donna Joy asserted that cutting academic programs in elementary schools would hurt Fenton more than committing Fenton tax revenues to a District 2 bailout.
“We spend a great deal on special needs programs,” she said. “It will cost Fenton more [in special needs and remedial classes] if we continue to send students there who are ill-prepared to succeed in high school.”
Residents voiced concerns about increased Church Road traffic and the proposal’s effect on District 2 pupils, especially during the 12- to 18-month construction period scheduled to start this summer.
Plans call for Tioga to be razed in June and its pupils distributed among the three remaining elementary schools during the 2001-02 school year. The district would rent mobile classrooms to accommodate the extra students.
Village officials said they want to do what’s best for District 2.
The school board plans to vote on the proposal sometime in March, Bauer said.
