Following a recent forum for candidates running for school board seats, Pioneer Press asked Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 officials about some candidate claims of poor student academic performance and about district property tax rates and fund balances (reserves).
In that forum, some candidates questioned the district’s substantial reserve funds at the same time the district levied a 5 % increase in the property tax on Elmhurst homeowners. Several candidates also claimed overall student performance is in the 50 % range.
The status of district finances is more nuanced than some candidates claimed, but the proficiency levels of District 205 students are indeed in the 50 % area for English language arts and math, according to the 2021-2022 Illinois State Board of Education report card for the district. [ ELMHURST SD 205 | Academic Progress (illinoisreportcard.com) ]
To tackle finances first, an email from Tonya Daniels, executive director of Communications and Community Relations, puts the balance of the district’s Operating Fund (reserves) from April, 2022, at a low point of $39.5 million. District officials say over the next three years, transfers of approximately $7 million per year will come from that fund, totaling approximately $21 million. Those transfers are expected to go to construction projects to address additional facility needs and provide additional capacity for students.
That is in line with incumbent board candidates Beth Hosler and Courtenae Troutmann had to say either in the LWV forum or in a subsequent conversation with Pioneer Press.
According to the district, inflation is taking a toll on district finances, with double digit increases for the current school year and next year for busing and some staffing. The district is also facing rising costs for health insurance costs and overall costs for goods and services.
That said, district officials defend this year’s tax levy, set at 5 %, but yielding a little over 4 %. With a portion of the current property taxes abated, the owner of a house with a $500,000 fair market value will see an additional $293 on his or her tax bill.
“Elmhurst District 205 has the lowest tax rate and the second lowest cost operating expense per pupil compared to all other comparable districts,” Daniels said in her email.
In terms of academics, Daniels’s email claims that analysis shows that District 205 is currently performing as well or better than 90 % of all districts in the state, with the district in the top 10 % of Illinois-based on scores of the 2022 Illinois Assessment of Readiness and SAT combined.
That may be so, but that is a surprisingly low bar, according to the Illinois State Board of Education 2021-2022 report card for the district. In that report, District 205 students were right around 50 % on the Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) in both math and English language arts (ELA) and in the same area with their SAT scores.
The IAR covers grades three to eight. The SAT is generally taken by juniors in high school.
Those 2021-2022 scores reflect drops from the last state report card for the district in the 2018-2019 school year, which generally showed proficiency in the 65 % area for math, English and science.
Daniels said district officials are now working on phase three of the district’s Strategic Plan.
She included a long bullet point list of steps in that process, some of which include:
a comprehensive assessment system to identify individual student strengths and areas for improvement;
educator learning and training that supports student learning
a K-12 math program review to establish a multiyear strategy to continue to support student achievement in mathematics across grades K-12 with actionable next steps and instructional best practices;
a 9-12 curriculum review of core classes, including standards alignment, assessment practices, and daily instructional tasks;
implementing Kindness in the Classroom in middle schools to provide a holistic approach to ensure that students are equipped with the appropriate skills to be college, career and life ready;
expansion of summer enrichment and acceleration programs; and
math interventionists to provide targeted math intervention across both elementary and middle schools.
District 205 serves more than 8,000 students, primarily in Elmhurst and small portions of Oak Brook, Bensenville and Addison, in fourteen schools — eight elementary schools, three middle schools, York Community High School, a Transition Program and the Madison Early Childhood Education Center.
Graydon Megan is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
