Why I am Opposed to the Referendum

The number that boggles my mind is $107,143,815. That is the total amount of revenue that High School District 113 took in during 2012 for 3,725 students. That is $28,763 per student which is more than we will be paying to send our son to college next year at Miami of Ohio.

District 113 tax increases and spending are on auto-pilot. For example, in 2007, District 113 collected $68.6 Million in taxes. By 2012 that number was $88.9 Million which is a 29% increase over the last 5 years.  Home values in Highland Park and Deerfield declined by 22% over the same time period.

Nobody wants to deny our children a top education however there is very little in the District 113 plan that will have any impact on learning. There are several areas where District 113 could save millions of dollars compared to the current plan. For example:

• Highland Park High School does not need a new gym. There are two already plus an indoor running track
• We do not need to tear down the 1914 C Building and C Annex at Highland Park High School. We will never get new construction with the quality of these buildings. Tearing them down adds millions in new construction costs and adds many unknown contingencies
• We do not need two new 8 lane swimming pools each with their own new diving well.
• The current plan includes more than $20 Million for architects, construction managers and engineers. In addition, there is more than another $20 Million for “contingencies” or things that could go wrong. We could lower these costs significantly with a scaled back plan.
• There is $36 Million for HVAC in the new plan. This does not even include the cost for the 1914 buildings. Does every system need to be replaced at once? Good air quality is critically important however do we really need individualized thermostats in every classroom?

Enrollment Will Decline

There are fewer young children living in our district and that means fewer high school students in the future. You can blame this on the housing crisis if you want but the real reason is because of the sharp decline in the birth rate after 1965. This is known as the “Baby Bust.” Look at the census data. The number of children age 7 and under was 20% lower in Highland Park and Deerfield in 2010 compared to 2000.

Big enrollment declines will begin once the last of the children of baby boomers complete High School in about 2015. District 113 projected a 12% enrollment decline by 2020 including 17% at Deerfield High School. There were over 5000 students at Highland Park and Deerfield High Schools in the early 1970’s compared to only 3725 in 2012.

Let’s fast forward to the year 2020. According to District 113’s own projections, its enrollment will be down by about 12% to approximately 3278 students. At the same time, total revenue will likely increase by about the same 4.7% per year that it has increased every year since 2003. So by 2020, District 113 is likely to take in approximately $155 Million in total revenue for 3278 students or about $47,198 per student. 10 years from now it will be over $50,000 per student. This is unsustainable. We need to break this cycle of auto-pilot spending. Voting no on this referendum is the only way to do that.

What Happens if you Vote No?

Do not fret about voting no. Most of the truly important needs for the high schools will be completed with or without the referendum. For example:

• Air conditioning systems can be upgraded through special bonds guaranteed by cost savings
• Technology costs are already in the District 113 budget
• Security upgrades are only $500K of the total plan
• District 113’s own engineer provided quotes of about $5 Million to repair the 1914 buildings
• District 113’s own swimming pool consultant indicated that pools could be replaced for approximately $850,000 per pool
• The Deerfield library could be fixed for a few million dollars
• New windows are about $3 Million in the plan
• ADA upgrades are about $2.5 Million

District 113 has already indicated that they can fund $5 Million per year for the next 5 years towards these upgrades. That should about cover it. If District 113 wants to spend more on some of the “nice to have” items it can tap into reserves. District 113 has about $50 Million in reserves. They really do not need all of that for a rainy day.

The bottom line is that we all want our kids to get a great education but we cannot simply ignore the costs. This referendum is not necessary and will simply serve to expand on an unsustainable pattern of spending that needs to change.