April 2, 2019 Referendum – $50,000,000 for a new 5-8th Grade School

Summary: Our school district has a referendum question on the April 2, 2019 ballot to build a new 5-8th Grade School, and we want to make sure that accurate information is getting out to our parents and community members.

The bottom line: our enrollments have been growing for six years and Minooka Intermediate School and Minooka Junior High School now exceed their student capacity.

Since 2014, our District has seen a 13% increase in enrollment. Our schools have made small modifications each year to attempt to handle the growth, including closing labs and adapting classrooms to PE space. Adjustments to schedules at the upper levels have also mitigated the enrollment growth. At the start of the 2018-19 school year, Minooka Intermediate School had over 1,100 students and Minooka Junior High School had over 1,000 students.

New photos from October 2018 as Minooka Junior High Students navigate the overcrowded hallways during passing periods.

Site layout of proposed school on Seil Rd.

Pictures of high enrollments at Minooka Junior High – The screenshots below were taken from passing periods and a dismissal at Minooka Junior High School.

In March 2017 we publicized and formed a Facilities Advisory Committee that studied enrollments, projections, current facilities and options for dealing with the need for new space. After months of work, they recommended to the Board of Education that they build a new school for grades 5-8 to open by August 2019, along with additional elementary space. After the initial referendum in March 2018 failed to gain voter approval, the Board voted to revise the question to only include the 5-8th Grade School to address the existing and immediate need.

The total cost for the project is estimated at $50,000,000 based on detailed estimates provided by Gilbane Construction. This figure is higher than the previous estimate for the 5-8 school developed for the Facilities Advisory Committee, primarily due to much higher site costs that stem from the cost of utility improvements and a projected roadway that will need to be constructed to the east of the school. The updated estimate from August 2018 and the original esitmate from July 2018 are linked below.

Gilbane 5-8 Building Estimate – July 24 2017

Gilbane 5-8 Building Estimate – Updated August 2, 2018

The new 5-8 school, which would be a replica of the Minooka Intermediate School, would begin construction immediately after the passage of the referendum at our property on Seil Rd in Shorewood.

The basic question that most people want to know is how will this affect the taxes. The plan we have in place would structure this new debt as well as restructure portions of our existing debt so that we are targeting a stable tax rate for the life of the bonds, which means that our district tax rate should not increase. This would extend portions of our existing debt out another three years past their current term, but the tax bill should only go up or down if the property value went up or down. If our property growth continues at a rate of at least 5% per year (between 7-9% the last three years), then the tax rate for debt service would not have to increase. In summary – using conservative assumptions, the plan would allow for $50,000,000 in new school construction by phasing in the new bonds and restructuring some of our existing debt without raising the tax rate.

The documents below provide more detail on the process used to develop this plan and will help our community members stay informed of the facts. If you have any questions regarding the referendum, please contact Dr. Kristopher Monn, Superintendent of Schools, kmonn@min201.org

2019 Referendum Frequently Asked Questions

The attached recommendation that was presented and approved by the Board of Education from the Facilities Advisory Committee at the November 20, 2017 Board Meeting was developed over six months by a combined group of parents, staff and administration. It contains a great amount of detail regarding the process and information used by the Committee to craft this recommendation.

November 17, 2017 Facilities Recommendation to Board of Education

The is the initial Facilities Advisory Committee Meeting Presentation that was held on April 19, 2017. It contains details on our current facilities including the number of classrooms.

April 19, 2017 Facilities Advisory Committee Meeting Presentation

This is the Current and Proposed Housing Developments Report used by the Committee from the Spring of 2017.  It lists all of the school districts subdivisions and student enrollment figures by grade levels. The list includes both finished subdivisions and subdivisions currently being developed. In areas still being developed, the remaining number of permits are shown with projected student yields. Note – enrollment projections were developed independently of this report. It was used to show where the most likely areas of future development would come from.

2017 – 2018 Subdivision Listing

The last Enrollment projections were updated with the fall 2017 student counts. A drop in kindergarten enrollments have brought down our overall elementary projections over previous models. However, forecasting future years using kindergarten registrations similar to the previous trend will cause the projections to rise. New enrollment projections are being prepared using the enrollments from the start of the 2018-19 school year, but the date for the official enrollment for the year is October 15th.

2017-2018 Enrollment Projections

The financial plan for the $50M in building bonds again targets keeping the debt service tax rate stable to its level in 2018, allowing our taxpayers to see little or no change to their tax bills from the referendum. The financial plan below shows the issuance of the $50M along with the restructuring of portions of our existing debt. The plan shows the tax rate then dropping around 2022, which would allow for the possibility of a future building referendum and still keep the rate flat. As before, this plan assumes 5% annual growth to our overall property value, which is a combination of new growth and the reassessment of existing property. Recent years have averaged between 7-9%, so this is a conservative estimate in the foreseeable future. However if the growth rate ever fell below 5% the tax rate would increase slightly just as it would decrease in each year where the growth rate exceeds 5%.

50M Referendum Bonds – Finance Structure

2018 Strategic Planning – Inspire learners to be responsible, confident and successful!

The Board of Education recently adopted their Strategic Plan after undertaking a stakeholder driven Strategic Planning Process using Mr. Perry Soldwedel from the Consortium for Educational Change (CEC) as facilitator. This process ran from April through early June 2018 before being formally adopted in July 2018. The Strategic Planning Team developed our Mission, Vision, Core Values and Strategic Goals. Action Plans for the Strategic Goals will be developed during the 2018-19 school year. If you have questions regarding this process please contact Dr. Kris Monn, Superintendent of Schools.

Minooka CCSD 201 Mission Statement – Inspire learners to be responsible, confident and successful.

Minooka CCSD 201 Core Values:

• Collaboration
• Engagement
• Equity
• Innovation
• Perseverance
• Respect
• Safety

Minooka CCSD 201 Vision Statement:

Personal success and well-being will be evidenced when learners are:

• Responsible and accountable for their own learning and demonstrate readiness for the next level of learning.
• Provided with supports and opportunities to develop skills, attitudes, and behaviors that lead to strong character, well-being, citizenship, and future workplace success.
• Committed to extend their learning beyond the classroom by connecting, creating, communicating, collaborating, and problem solving.
• Guided by effective educators who engage and challenge learners through innovative, real world applications and see collaboration as fundamental to teaching and learning.
• Supported by families and a community who are actively engaged as advocates for individual and collective educational excellence.
• Provided with appropriate and equitable resources necessary to reach their potential.

Strategic Plan Long-Range Goals and Aligned Strategies

Long-Range Goal	Aligned Strategies for Improvement
Demonstrate continuous improvement in student growth and achievement.	·      Further the district’s curriculum vision by assuring program and curriculum consistency and coherence.     ·      Utilize best instructional practices and technology to extend learning opportunities within and beyond the classroom.   ·      Personalize learning to enable each student to be responsible and accountable for his/her learning results.
Cultivate a safe, engaging, authentic learning environment that promotes student confidence and growth.	·      Improve the district’s MTSS (Multi-Tiered System of Supports) to close achievement gaps and provide a coherent continuum of supports responsive to the needs of all learners     ·      Develop and implement tools and strategies for assessing and addressing student social and emotional knowledge, skills, and behaviors.
Support a positive and productive working environment in which student-focused staff are engaged, collaborative, innovative and accountable.	·      Maintain and improve meaningful and collaborative relationships between the schools to make transitions (elementary to intermediate, to middle, and to high) for students seamless and successful.     ·      Construct and utilize a PK-8 data indicator system to enhance data analysis, progress monitoring, and reporting.   ·      Promote a district-wide culture focused on staff competencies and expectations that fosters collaboration, collective responsibility, satisfaction, and shared accountability.
Strengthen family and community engagement, communication, and collaboration to support student success.	·      Identify and implement effective tools and strategies to improve family and community communication, engagement, input, and satisfaction.
Ensure stakeholder trust and confidence through effective and efficient operations and stewardship of facility and financial resources.	·      Proactively manage and forecast district resources in an open, transparent, and responsible manner.     ·      Ensure effective operations of district systems through continuous improvement principles.

Strategic Planning Process, April – June 2018:

All documents used have been posted to this webpage for all stakeholders to review and follow.

Summary Documents

Current Strategic Plan, adopted Fall 2014

2018 Strategic Planning Roster

CEC Strategic Plan Process

Orientation Meeting, April 3, 2018

Agenda for Orientation Retreat Minooka CCSD 201

Minooka Elementary Orientation Participant Handout

Data Retreat, April 6, 2018

The result of the April 6th Data Retreat is a draft analysis of the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT Analysis) our school district faces. The Strategic Planning Team will use the SWOT Analysis throughout the Vision Retreat and the Planning Retreat to help shape how our District gets from “where we are” to “where we want to be.”

DRAFT SWOT ANALYSIS – MINOOKA ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT 201

Findings from the Minooka Elementary School District 201 Data Retreat

The following materials were used by the Strategic Planning Team during the Data Retreat:

Table Assignments – Data Retreat

Data Retreat Agenda

Minooka 201 5Essentials Results

Data Retreat – Finance and Facilities

Data Retreat – Learning Environment

Data Retreat – Academic Presentation

Visioning Retreat, April 25, 2018

On April 25, 2018 the Strategic Planning Team met to review the results of the SWOT Analysis and begin to develop a vision for “Where we want our District to be.” Table teams reviewed four distinct learning environments to gather ideas and philosophies that were used for each group to collaboratively develop key words and phrases for our mission, vision and values. The resulting product will be posted and shared out after the Team meets again on May 16, 2018 for the Action Planning Retreat.

The following documents were used by the Strategic Planning Team at the Visioning Retreat:

Minooka Elementary Agenda Vision Retreat

Minooka VISION RETREAT Participant Handout

Table Assignments – Vision Retreat

SWOT Analysis Feedback

Modern Learners 10 Principles for Schools of Modern Learning

Findings of the Minooka Elementary 201 Vision Retreat

Setting Direction Retreat, May 16, 2018

Agenda – Setting Direction Retreat 18-05-16

Direction Setting – Table, Article Assignments

Article – Key Performance Indicators

Article – Redefining Student Success 2017

Article – Work SMARTER not HARDER

April 2019 Referendum Frequently Asked Questions

These pages will be updated frequently.  Please check back for the most current information.

FAQ related to referendum

1.  What is a bond referendum?   A School Building Bond Referendum is a question posed to the voters of a district over whether or not to grant the Board of Education the authority to issue bonds, or long-term debt, to build new school facilities.

2.  Why is a bond referendum needed?  This bond referendum is needed because Minooka CCSD 201 has experienced high student enrollment increases and requires new classroom space to accommodate the student growth.

3.  What is the tax impact for local taxpayers if the referendum is approved?  The financial plan for the new bonds will attempt to keep the tax rate stable throughout the life of the bonds. By restructuring some of our existing debt and phasing in the new bonds as cash is needed, our annual debt payments will be structured to rise each year to allow new developments to help pay for the debt. The plan uses a 5% growth assumption in the district’s equalized assessed value, which is less than our previous three years have experienced.

In that scenario, the tax impact would be negligible. However, if the annual growth were to fall below 5%, the tax rate would rise slightly. Likewise, if the growth continues to exceed 5%, then the tax rate would actually go down.

4.  What is the $50 million for exactly?  The $50M would provide for a new 5-8 building modeled after the existing Minooka Intermediate School.

5.  Why did the cost of the 5-8 school increase to $50M?  The previous figure of $45M was based off of a very early estimate developed for the Facilities Advisory Committee in 2017. That estimate was made prior to the site layout and utility improvements being known and developed. As Administration worked with STR Architects and our civil engineers to develop the site plan it became clear that the cost for site improvements needed to increase. The most recent estimate of $50.1M includes all costs of site work, including the projected costs of building a roadway to the east of the property that would be repaid by developments over time.

6.  What is the district’s plan for athletics and activities?  No decisions have been made regarding athletics and activities, but it is likely that the new school would have its own athletics and activities.

7.  When was the last time 201 voted on a bond referendum?  The most recent referendum failed to gain voter approval in November 2018. Prior to that, the last successful referendum was in April 2007 for Minooka Intermediate School and Jones Elementary School.

8.  What happens if the bond referendum does not pass?  If the bond referendum does not pass we will continue to make the necessary arrangements to house the new students in our existing facilities. Each of our schools will make accommodations such as increased class size, loss of labs and fine arts classrooms, and possibly the use of mobile classroom units. We also anticipate that we will no longer be able to participate in our athletic conference due to the large enrollment, which will make scheduling games for our teams quite difficult throughout the year.

9.  How much has the district enrollment increased?  Since 2013-14, our enrollment has increased from just under 4,000 students to approximately 4,550 students, an increase of over 13% in just six years. Detailed information can be found in the enrollment projections on the District’s website.

10.  How much is the district enrollment expected to increase over the next 5 years?  The enrollment in grades 5-8 is expected to grow to between 2,300 to 2,400 students over the next five years, well beyond our current capacity of 2,000. Elementary enrollments have stabilized, but we still have over 500 students in each grade level between 2nd and 7th grade, which means our Intermediate and Junior High Schools will have over 1,000 students each for the near future.

11.  How will students benefit from the bond referendum?  Students in Minooka CCSD 201 will benefit from smaller class sizes, less crowded shared spaces in the schools and more opportunities to participate in activities.

12.  How long has the district been studying the needs for additional facilities?  The District has been monitoring its enrollments and space utilization for the last three years. Early in 2017 the Board directed the administration to create a Facilities Advisory Committee from our community to review our projections, study our current capacities and develop a recommendation on a course of action. The Committee completed their work in the fall of 2017 and recommended to the Board that they adopt the referendum question, which the Board acted on in December 2017. After that referendum failed to gain voter approval, the Board modified the question to allow for only the single 5-8 building to address the existing and immediate need.

13.  When is the election?  The election is during the Municipal Election held on April 2, 2019.

14.  Is it possible to add onto current buildings rather than build a new one?  The layout and footprints of the Intermediate School and Junior High School on the same campus make any additions both impractical and not cost efficient.

15.  If a new school is constructed, when will the new boundaries be decided and what will the boundaries be?  Boundaries for any new building would not be decided until after the referendum. A stakeholder committee would be convened to examine possibilities and make a recommendation to the Board.

16.  How will bus service be affected?  Bus Service would be affected only by the addition of a new building that would need to get added to the routes. It is expected that the number of buses going to Minooka Intermediate and Minooka Junior High would decrease as many routes would now go to the northern school.

17.  Where will the new building be located?  If approved, the new 5-8 school building will be built on the south side of Seil Rd in Shorewood, just east of County Line Rd and just west of the railroad tracks. The District purchased 42 acres there in 2004 and have been holding it for an eventual two building school campus.

18.  How many bids were made on the construction project? Concerns over not having multiple estimates.  Our estimates are preliminary detailed estimates prepared by professionals from Gilbane, a construction management firm. No work has been bid to date. If approved, each construction package will be publicly bid and awarded to the lowest responsible bidder in accordance with Illinois law.

19.  What cost is saved by using the same blueprint/footprint of the existing intermediate school?  There are some architectural savings associated with using the prototype building. However, the major benefit is the reduced time of completing the design and construction documents. Designing a building from scratch involves many early meetings with stakeholders before the initial layout of the building is determined. Using a prototype bypasses those months of planning and design and allows a more compact design and construction timeline.

20.  What other options were considered besides building another school, and what were the costs of those options?  Our Facilities Advisory Committee looked at temporary or portable classrooms, leasing existing space and building additions onto our existing facilities. The Committee decided that portable classrooms and leasing space should be short term emergency options the District could employ to deal with unexpected fluctuations in enrollments. Many other iterations of new buildings, adding onto buildings and re-configuring portions of our existing schools were then brainstormed. Summaries of these options can be found in the Facilities Advisory Committee’s Recommendation to the Board of Education.

21.  How do we know taxes will not raise as a result of this referendum?  We cannot promise that taxes will not go up. Our plan is to structure the bond payments so that they increase each year as our overall property value increases, allowing the tax rate needed to repay the debt to remain the same. If the tax rate remains stable, a property owner’s taxes would only increase or decrease according to the change in their property assessment.

The financial plan uses a 5% annual growth rate to the overall property value, which is smaller than the growth rate we have seen in the previous three years. If the growth rate exceeds 5%, the tax rate would decrease. If the growth rate is less than 4%, then the tax rate would indeed go up by about $0.01, or $6 per year on a $200,000 home. Our District can only control the structure of the bonds, not the property growth, and we are attempting to implement a structure that mitigates the tax impact as much as possible.

22.  What cost is estimated to staff the new building and will that be in addition to the cost of the building?  The cost of operating Minooka Intermediate School is approximately $750,000, inclusive of office, custodial, library and cafeteria staff as well as utility payments. Instructional staff will largely follow the students, so as we pull population from our existing facilities the instructional staff at those buildings would decrease.

23.  Where did the numbers for the enrollment projections come from?  Enrollment projections have been done internally using the cohort retention method, the most commonly used method for projecting enrollments in schools. Outside demographers generally use the same method with slight variations, so we have decided to save the cost of hiring an outside agency at this time.

24.  Can we send 5th grade back to elementary schools and build additions to house them?  Adding onto our existing elementary schools is estimated at $5M for six classrooms, or 150 seats. Only Aux Sable, Jones and Walnut Trails Elementary are options for additions. Those three additions would total $15M and would add 450 seats at the elementary level, which is less than the current 5th grade class of 539. The overcrowding of our elementary schools would be accelerated.

25.  What accountability is there to the taxpayers about how the referendum money will be spent?  All funds raised from the referendum and expended on the projects will be approved in open public meetings. Monthly construction reports will be generated to track referendum expenditures separate from the regular operating expenses.

26.  Will we need another referendum to staff the building?  Instructional staffing will not need to increase much as the staff from the schools losing enrollment will transfer to the new schools. There are operating expenses involved with opening a new school, currently projected to be between $750,000 to $800,000 per year for office staff, custodial, cafeteria and utilities as examples. If available funding is not enough to cover the operating expenses, we would go through a budget reduction process to keep our budget balanced while impacting our instructional programs as minimally as possible. A referendum to cover operating expenses is not planned at this time.

27.  How was the structure of the bonds chosen and isn’t it more expensive? The existing debt portfolio of the District is scheduled to elevate each year over the next 10 years, so structuring the new proposed debt includes restructuring portions of the existing debt. The two main choices the Board has evaluated are to target a level annual debt service payment, which would cause the tax rate to increase by about $0.40 in the first year, or to target a level annual tax rate, which would keep the tax rate stable and increase the amount of payments each year as property values and new construction increase the tax base.

A structure that used a level debt service payment would have an initial increase to the tax rate, projected at $0.40 in the summer of 2018. That would have been an increase of approximately $250 per year on a $200,000 home. However the level debt service structure is less expensive overall since you are repaying more principal in the earlier years. The level tax rate structure has little or no immediate impact to the tax rate, but it does backload some of the principal payments which results in a higher interest cost.

After evaluating both options the Board choose the structure that kept our tax rate lower, acknowledging that the structure would result in higher overall debt costs.