We sit on the River Forest District 90 school board and are your friends, neighbors and fellow villagers. We are a diverse group of individuals who share a deep love for this community, especially its public schools. Some of us grew up in the village; others moved here when married. We believe in the power of this community to embrace, enrich, and model values for our children and believe such an opportunity presents itself now.

We are writing to explain the board’s decision to seek an increase in property tax rates to preserve the existing offerings at our local public schools. Last December, we voted to seek a referendum on March 21 to increase taxes in order to preserve the public educational programs in River Forest. We took this step after a careful evaluation of the district’s financial condition. Great consideration was given to the burden which would be placed on those River Forest residents without children or grandchildren in the public schools. Over the past months, we’ve been asked why a tax increase is necessary, why now, and what are the implications of the referendum?

Limited revenues, rising expenses

Illinois public schools, including Dist. 90, have highly restricted sources of funding. Nationally, Illinois ranks 48th out of the 50 states in state funding of public schools. As a result, school districts rely heavily on local property taxes for revenues. Since 1994, when the Illinois legislature imposed property tax caps to provide taxing body accountability to the electorate, restrictions have been placed on the annual growth of these revenues. Tax cap increases are limited to the lesser of 5 percent or the change in the consumer price index for the previous year, which has averaged 2.5 percent over the last seven years.

While limited state support and tax caps have restricted our revenues, our expenses have been subject to significant pressure. Despite cost containment measures, the district continues to face the same factors contributing to higher prices across all economic sectors—namely, health insurance, salary, and utility costs. Additional expenses specific to education—state and federal mandates and student enrollment—further stress the budget. Combined, these pressures have caused expenses to grow at a rate of 6.6 percent over the past seven years, in excess of the capped 2.5 percent increase in tax revenues. Despite active intervention to slow this growth in expenses, a structural deficit remains and must be addressed.

An independent Fiscal Action Team, comprised of 20 community members of diverse professional and personal backgrounds, some with and some without children in the schools, evaluated Dist. 90 finances, explored various revenue and expense scenarios, and determined a referendum was necessary to equalize this imbalance. After extensive analysis and deliberation, this committee felt satisfied that district salaries and expenses per pupil were "average" when compared to those from comparable school districts while the educational opportunities are appropriate for this community.

What we would keep

Why do we have to place financial pressure on villagers for the benefit of school-age children? Because the schools reflect who we are as a community, what we value, and what role we want our children to play in the future. River Forest public schools have been challenged to provide an educational opportunity individualized to each child’s specific needs. When these needs—ranging from specialized training, variations in learning style, to placement in accelerated classes—are met, great things occur, inside the classroom and out in the community.

The scope of the district’s success can be seen in the impressive performance of our students: over 91 percent of the children of River Forest public schools met or exceeded state standards last year; a middle school team placed second in the nation in a 2005 Science Bowl competition; students raised over $35,000 to support Hurricane Katrina relief in a charity walk. Dist. 90 challenges children intellectually, physically and morally to enrich the schools, community and world beyond—and our children build upon the village’s legacy in the process.

If the referendum passes, current programs will be preserved—we have no plans to use these funds to expand offerings. If it fails, the entire community will be adversely affected.

What we would lose

For students, a failed referendum will be felt immediately. Cuts to music, art, physical education, sports, foreign language and gifted programs, along with class size increases, will be implemented for the ’06–’07 school year. Additional cuts, leading to near or full elimination of the above programs, as well as significant increases in class size due to the elimination of teaching positions, will be implemented in ’07–’08. Identified cuts in teaching positions in the ’08–’09 school year will result in class size increases of 67 percent from today’s class sizes. When the referendum failed in 1995, staff cuts to the junior kindergarten, art, and music programs were implemented and have never been reinstituted.

For the village, an important cornerstone of the community will be eroded. People move to River Forest, literally bidding up property values in the process, because of the quality of the schools and the services provided to all school age children in the village. Passage of the referendum is an investment in our community, our schools, and our real estate values.

On March 21, a referendum for a tax increase for the benefit of River Forest public schools will appear on the ballot. This referendum is financially necessary. It is also an opportunity for the community to support our children, support the challenges before the schools, and support our home values. Please join us in taking action to preserve our schools by supporting the referendum on March 21.

David Gregg, Board president
Ron Atkins, Nora Anzinger, Kristen Coe,
Juli Geldner, Lori Owens, Kelly Welindt,
School board members