It's time for ACTION

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Stay tuned for opportunities to help get our message out at the

Oak Park Farmers Market at Pilgrim Church on Saturday mornings and at other local events.

Read the latest in the Wednesday Journal.  Here's a LINK to a recent One View opinion piece. The online version includes feedback from the community. 

 

Also, you can now use the link www.D200VoteNo.com to find us.  That link directs to this website - it's the same place.  And if you're looking for some special information, send an e-mail to us at D200VoteNo@gmail.com - - Note that capitalization does not matter, you can use d200voteno@gmail.com and your message will reach us.

UPDATE - August 19 - The Referendum Ballot Question

The following REFERENDUM QUESTION was approved by the OPRFHS D200 Board of Education at its meeting on August 16:

“Shall the Board of Education of Oak Park and River Forest Consolidated High School District Number 200, Cook County, Illinois, build and equip a swimming pool addition to replace the existing 88-year-old swimming pools at the Oak Park and River Forest High School Building; alter, repair and equip said School Building to improve the learning, performing arts and locker room spaces therein; improve the site thereof; build and equip a parking garage to replace the existing parking garage; and issue bonds of said School District in an amount not to exceed $25,000,000 for the purpose of paying costs thereof?”

NOTE: In addition to the to the bond issue, the high school will finance this $45,000,000 project with $20 Million from its reserves. These funds will be used to purchase the existing parking garage from the village, tear it down, and replace it with a smaller parking garage and an aquatics facility that includes a 40 meter by 25 yard swimming pool. In high school aquatics events, 25 yards is the standard lap distance. So depending how you look at it, that is either an 8-lane, 40 meter pool OR a 17-lane, 25 yard pool.


prior post: TUESDAY, AUGUST 16 at 6:30 PM is the next school board meeting.

The AGENDA includes:
*Review and Adopt the Pool and Facility Plans and
*Approve the Resolution providing for and requiring the submission of the proposition of issuing not to exceed $25,000,000 School Building Bonds to the voters of the District at the general election to be held on the 8th day of November 2016.

Here's a LINK to the Agenda for 8/16, where there are additional links to even more information. Among the additional information linked there is the NEW PLAN that trims costs from Plan B. You may recall that the cost of Plan B as announced last month was around $54 million, but the Board directed Legat Architects to come up with modifications to bring the total cost to $45 million.

Here is a LINK to the REVISED PLAN. The document shows 1) line-by- line changes to the accepted plan that bring costs under $45 million, and 2) conceptual drawings of the relevant sections of the building. The changes made to the previous plan include:
reducing support areas around the pool
removing one level to the proposed parking structure
deferring renovation of theater and choir spaces along the east side of the school building
leaving the weight room in its current location
and not planning an additional classroom in the weight room area

The revised plan linked above includes very specific information about the changes to the original proposal for Plan B, and shows line-by-line where the cuts are coming from. Please take a look at it for all the details.

Tax Levies and the burdens they create - Stay tuned!

Back in February, a very illuminating article by the OP Township Assessor Ali El-Saffar was published in the Wednesday Journal. It explained that the high school used a quirk in the law to increase its 2005 tax levy by 16.5% - on top of a voter-approved 2002 referendum increase. These increases resulted in $7.7 million of additional revenue to the high school in 2005 and subsequent years.  For the full article, see this LINK
 
Bear in mind that the high school is proposing to issue new bonds to fund a portion of the costs for the new pool/parking structure and other facility improvements.  This will create an additional tax burden.  That impact cannot be predicted until we know more about the financing specifics for this project.  However, remember that we are STILL PAYING TO SERVICE THE DEBT FOR THE PARKING GARAGE that was issued in 2003 when the garage was built. If it is taken down, we will still be paying for those bonds.  According to a 2013 WJ article, that debt service was costing the village close to $1 million per year, and will probably go higher.  Read the article HERE. (Note: Those bonds were issued by the village of Oak Park, the owner of the parking garage.)

For those of you who are newer visitors to this website, please scroll down and review some of the earlier posts.  In particular, THIS POST reviews PLAN A (which we are calling the pragmatic plan) and PLAN B (the approved plan, which is subject to further revision).  This CHART compares Plan A and Plan B in an easy to read format. (It also includes Plan C, the underground pool plan, though that plan seemed to have little support)

The next meeting of the BOE is Tuesday, August 16.  We will post the agenda and any additional details once they are on the high school's website HERE.  At this meeting, the school board will present its final plan with modifications to lower the cost, possibly to under $50 million.  They will also discuss, and possibly finalize, the funding parameters and referendum ballot question.

Thanks to all your efforts over the last nine months, it appears likely that the question of what to do about the high school's pools WILL BE PUT TO A VOTE in a referendum this fall! It seems the school board also realizes the importance of on-campus, off-street parking; the plan includes a new parking garage with the aquatics facility. WE MUST STAY ON TOP OF THIS ISSUE.

 

The next step is for D200 to finalize the facility plans for Option B, the cost and its funding mechanism (by Aug 16) Send your thoughts via e-mail to BOE@oprfhs.org. We will continue to advocate for the PRAGMATIC POOL SOLUTION. While we are disappointed that a more expensive option was chosen that takes down the existing garage, it is encouraging that the majority of the community agrees with our position, according to the public opinion phone survey (LINK) conducted by a professional research company commissioned by the high school. PLEASE STAY INVOLVED.

 

NOTE: At the D200 School Board meeting on MONDAY, AUG 1 the board announced it has chosen Option B. This option tears down the current parking garage and replaces it with a smaller garage and an 8-lane, 40-meter pool. See this LINK to the agenda for that meeting - it contains further links to specific documents with lots of additional details on the three options: https://intranet.oprfhs.org/board-of-education/board_meetings/Special_Meetings/Agendas/2016-17%20Special/20160801%20SPEC%20Agenda.pdf