Those attending Monday night’s second community engagement session on the future of the Prairie Central school district heard about a number of possible building scenarios.
“None of these is ‘the’ plan,” advised Damien Schlitt with BLDD Architects. “These aren’t the only scenarios possible.”
Schlitt presented what he referred to as a number of “starter scenarios” during the meeting held at Prairie Central High School in Fairbury.
Following small group discussions among members of the public, the more popular options seemed to be 3e and 2b.
The first, known as 3e, includes grades 9-12 at the high school, 5-8 at the Junior High and pre-K through 4 at an elementary school. Under this plan, the Upper Elementary, Primary West and Primary East schools would be retired.
Another popular scenario among the crowd, known as 2b, features pre-K through 4 elementary centers at Chatsworth and Chenoa with grades 5-8 at the Junior High and 9-12 at the High School. The Upper Elementary and Prairie Central Elementary would be retired under this plan.
There were 10 total scenarios presented at the meeting, ranging from the status quo of maintaining current buildings all the way up to new construction and various closures of facilities.
“No decisions on a plan or direction have been made,” PACT, or Planning a Course Together, co-chair Anna Schmidgall said. “The plan is to be developed with extensive community participation.”
This PACT process is being led by a community facilitating team and members are meeting between the public meetings to discuss items further and review what was covered previously. The group hopes to have a recommendation to present to the entire school board by this summer.
District Financial Officer Cheryl Hoffman reviewed district finances, saying real estate taxes are the largest revenue source. Revenue has been increasing over the past decade, though education is a labor-intensive industry.
“We have not had large fluctuations in our expenditures,” Hoffman explained.
Bond repayment cost is a large expenditure but the County School Facility Tax is a significant funding source. The one-percent sales tax is permanent revenue for the district. This results in people from outside the area helping pay for infrastructure needs when they purchase items in the county.
Around $8.7 million has been collected during the past 10 years from the sales tax. At PC, projects from the funding have included light poles, football bleachers, roof replacement, gym renovations and the agriculture and I.T. building addition.
“Just think what we can accomplish in the future,” said Hoffman.
While PC has been able to build fund balances, the district tax rate has remained steady since about 2014. The rate is about in the middle of the pack compared to other nearby school rates.
Kevin Heid of Stifel presented information on financing projects. He noted public school borrowing is controlled by school code and Illinois law.
“If we are doing building bonds, that does require a referendum,” stated Heid.
Under current statute, bonds are limited to 20 years in length but there has been legislation proposed to extend that. Alternate revenue bonds do not count against debt limit, according to Heid. The district has one bond issue currently outstanding.
Schlitt revealed survey results from teachers on what they need. Educational adequacy and educational environment were the biggest concern areas. While the junior high and high school are functioning well, the elementaries have varying degrees of functionality. Group work and co-teaching are areas with challenges due to current facilities.
Once everyone came together following the breakout session, some in attendance expressed concerns over the possibility of closing schools while others wondered about the savings involved with building new.
The next PACT meeting is scheduled for April 15 to discuss scenario refinement and May 6 is the final in the series of meetings with an options forum for the crowd to pick a plan. Both will take place in the Prairie Central High School gymnasium from 7 to 9 p.m. and all are welcome.
“We need everyone to come together as a community,” said PACT co-chair Scott Berry. “Bring more people to the next meeting so we can keep going.”
More public tours of all school facilities in the district are planned for this Saturday, March 16 from 9 a.m. to noon. Administrators will give tours of buildings to district residents, who can visit one or all of the schools. Tours will be given every 10 to 15 minutes at PC Primary West in Chenoa, PC Elementary in Fairbury, PC High School in Fairbury, PC Upper Elementary in Forrest, PC Junior High in Forrest and PC Primary East in Chatsworth.
The full slide presentation from Monday's meeting can be found here:
