School District 79 Board of Education President Sheila Wachholder in the middle school science lab of the Pennoyer School in Norridge, Nov. 17, 2022. Voters recently rejected a referendum that would have funded a renovation for the science labs and other instructional spaces at the school, as well as new fire alarms, plumbing, accessibility changes and other infrastructure updates. (Caroline Kubzansky / Pioneer Press)
“Does everyone feel good?” Pennoyer School District 79 Board of Education President Sheila Wachholder asked at a special board meeting before thinking better of it and continuing,“Or, not feel good, because we feel terrible.”
Wachholder and the rest of the board were most of the way through a spreadsheet of potential budget reductions to pay for critical building upgrades in the district’s only school, Pennoyer Elementary School.
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Bowls of chocolates sat untouched around the table at the Dec. 29 meeting as school board members waded through a maze of full- and part-time equivalents, combined cohorts, higher fees and reduced programs in service of coming up with about $2.7 million to replace the school’s 1954 fire alarm system, mechanical system and lower level bathrooms.
The meeting took place about six weeks after voters rejected a referendum that would have added about $260 to the average property tax bill. The most recent election was the district’s sixth attempt to raise money for its aging building, where many water fountains are shut off due to lead and much of the structure is not accessible to people with disabilities.
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By the end of the meeting, board members had agreed on a series of cuts that would go on the agenda of the Jan. 17 meeting for a vote. The proposed cuts fell into three categories: reduction in force, or eliminating teaching and other staff positions, changes to the school calendar and fee increases for things like technology.
This means that Pennoyer, which serves about 450 students in kindergarten through 8th grade from Norridge, Harwood Heights and unincorporated Cook County, will reduce its kindergarten to half-day programs to eliminate one of the two teaching positions in that grade and eliminate its music and art programs, Superintendent Kristin Kopta said.
It will end its sports programs and other extracurricular programs in February for an immediate savings of $19,000.
The second year of the cost-saving program will save about $680,171, according to the list of reductions Kopta presented to the board. The next three years will each save $685,171.
“This scenario would allow for the fire alarm, mechanicals and lower level bathrooms to be completed and give the board an additional $1 million in reserves,” a warning at the bottom of the list reads. “Please keep in mind we are using 2021 construction prices. According to the FY 22 audit, there was $1,281,765 in the reserves.”
At its Dec. 14 meeting, the board agreed it needed to move forward with cuts to avoid lowering its reserve funds any further, which would inch the district toward falling under state oversight.
Among the reductions on the table are reducing teacher supply budgets to $100 each year (saving $5,000 every year), closing down the school’s library/media center (saving $17,500 in year two), freezing Kopta’s salary (saving $7,000 in year two) and reducing the board’s professional development and miscellaneous budgets for a total savings of $62,500 over five years.
Increases on the table include upping the student registration fee by $100 to $300 and increasing the technology fees by $100 per student.
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Originally, the proposed increases in fees had been $50 for registration and $10 for technology, but Board Vice President Phil Palermo encouraged other members to consider a larger amount.
“I want to be as aggressive as we can with fees,” he said.
Board member Luca Parisi came to agree with Palermo, though he noted he’d feel the weight of the change as a school parent.
“I do not like it, I have to pay it,” he said.
But he said the school needed to raise money one way or another — whether through tax or fee increases.
But most of the savings will come from eliminating five teaching positions in music, visual arts, English Language Learning and Physical Education as well as a handful of paraprofessional positions. Kopta later told Pioneer Press they will also vote on combining the first grade classes next year to eliminate one of those teaching positions.
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Part of the school’s financial woes are rooted in its size, officials told Pioneer Press. It has a number of well-funded neighbors like Park Ridge-Niles School District 64.
While merging two school districts isn’t an option under Illinois school code, consolidation is, Kopta said. She explained this change would require a consolidation study showing what the new tax rate would be for families in the consolidated district, among other considerations. Both taxing bodies would also have to approve a consolidation referendum before moving ahead, she said.
Kopta said District 79 has considered this before with lukewarm support.
“This is not something the Pennoyer community was in favor of exploring because ultimately, it would most likely increase taxes,” Kopta wrote in an email to Pioneer Press.
Two main factors in the lack of support for a potential consolidation were a likely higher tax rate as part of District 64 and longer trips for students getting to school, Kopta said.
Board members agreed to place all the budget reductions and fee increases they discussed on the agenda for the Jan. 17 meeting alongside a discussion of a rate increase that would help raise money for the district’s educational fund and a possible vote to go back out for referendum in the April municipal elections.
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“Nobody wants to do any of this or all of it,” board member David Tarjan observed. “Yeah, it sucks, but from a pure money and spreadsheets point of view the school will be able to operate.”
Norridge’s Pennoyer school plans to cut six teachers, sports, library, music after sixth referendum failed
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