RBHS needs renovation to provide top education
Technology is the key to a future that can brighten the careers of the young men and women of Riverside-Brookfield High School. Without updates to the facility as a whole, these technological advances cannot be put into place.
If the administration had to update the current facility according to proper safe standards without a major renovation, it would end up costing taxpayers double what the board of education is asking for in the March referendum.
There is nothing standard about RB High School, its educators or its students. We are in the year 2006 and, every single day, a new advancement in educational technology is invented. At the same time, every single day something inside the building becomes outdated.
Our students have a right to the same advantages that other schools in this state have at their fingertips. And, yes, that does cost money. But, it is a small price to pay to prepare for the next several decades.
RB’s bricks do carry a large historical significance in this community, as does our village hall, police department and county and state facilities. Every public building, especially educational institutions must be safe, sound and working according to the norm. They must be technologically up to date.
RB needs this referendum to pass to prepare the future leaders of this growing community for greatness.
On March 21, vote “yes” and support our schools, support our community and support our children.
Mario Lavorato
Riverside
? Mario Lavorato is a former District 208 board member.
Support District 95 tax referendum
I am asking the residents of Brookfield-LaGrange Park District 95 to support our community, our schools and, what is most important, our children.
My husband and I have lived in Brookfield for almost 18 years. Our children have been educated and nurtured in District 95 schools. Our youngest son graduated from S.E. Gross last year and has been well prepared for high school. I also teach fifth grade at Gross School. We have a lot vested in this community.
As a teacher in District 95, I have seen first hand the positive impacts that smaller classes have produced. The implementation of additional programs, such as Spanish and technology have also been extremely effective. They have led to better student performance. Our standardized test scores have increased, and our children are entering high school well equipped.
District 95 had not asked the public for a tax increase in 20 years. By balancing the education fund, revenues are freed up to address the buildings’ safety needs. We are looking at one referendum to fulfill both needs of the district. That shows tremendous fiscal responsibility.
With the present tax caps, the schools have no other options left. If this referendum fails, there will be cuts to the many flourishing after-school programs and sports, as well as cuts to the music, art, Spanish, consumer skills, band and enrichment programs. Class sizes will also increase.
Besides the obvious loss to our children, think of the value of our homes. There is a direct correlation between the value of one’s home and the viability of the schools where you live.
Please support our community and our children. Vote “yes” for District 95 on March 21.
Ellen Calkins
Brookfield
Get educated on details of 1 percent sales tax question
Today I had lunch with a professional tax advisor. She told me that something happened to her, five times, which surprised her and should worry me. She said that five of her Brookfield customers had asked her the same question:
“How much is the 1-percent sales tax proposal going to raise my property taxes?”
The correct answer is that the Village of Brookfield ballot proposal will have absolutely no effect on property taxes?”none at all, nothing, nada, zero, zip, not one red cent! It is not a property tax! It will not show up as a “line item” on your property tax bill!
The proposal is for a 1 percent sales tax on sales in Brookfield made by anyone, no matter where they live. That is correct; out-of-towners buying in Brookfield will pay the same as local residents. This tax will not apply to prescription drugs, grocery store food or licensed motor vehicle purchases.
Voters should consider this tax proposal carefully. The money will be used primarily for street resurfacing and related projects. The primary commitment will be to paying the principle and interest on bonds sold to finance these projects.
Are you willing to pay one penny more in sales tax on a $1 purchase to repave Brookfield’s residential streets? Vote “yes” if this works for you; vote “no” if you don’t think so.
Find out the facts and make an informed decision. Don’t vote against your best interest because of misinformation and rumors.
C.P. Hall II
Brookfield
? C.P. Hall II is a Brookfield village trustee.
Brookfield residents invited to community center forum
I’m writing this to invite you to our meeting of the Playground and Recreation Board on Wednesday, March 1 at 7 p.m. at the Brookfield village hall. As you may of heard, I’m starting the process of getting a community center in Brookfield and would like your input. A few years ago, the Recreation Department did a survey of residences in Brookfield asking what they would like out of their Recreation Department.
Based on that survey, I feel there is a strong demand for a community center here in Brookfield. Think of what a community center could offer our village?”a place for kids to hang out after school, a place where classes could be held, a gymnasium, a place for different groups to meet instead of the basement of village hall. You get the idea. Having a community center would change Brookfield from a good place to live to a great place to live.
Before an architect can tell use what the building would look like or what it would cost, we need to tell them what we want the building to offer. This is where you come in. This meeting will be the first of many to gauge support from residents and to get input of what you would like from your community center.
If this is something you would like to see built, please come to our meeting and let us know. Again, this is the beginning stages, by no means will we decide the final look of the community center in one night. The more input we get, though, the more an architect will have to work with.
After our initial ideas come to life, we’ll start to figure out how to pay for it. We need to have a rough idea of the function and size of the building before we can start to get an estimate of the cost.
If you can not make it to the meeting, but feel this is important, you can also let our village president and trustees know this is important to you. I hope to see you at the meeting.
Matthew M. Joseph
? Matthew M. Joseph is the finance chairman of the Brookfield Playground and Recreation Commission.
More research needed for Brookfield dog park
I am sharing these notes with readers related to the issue of creating a dog park in Brookfield. As of the moment, I am not strongly for or against the idea. But, I do feel strongly that the idea should be well researched before a decision is made.
I am a dog owner living in Brookfield. My interest also stems from my volunteering at Mayslake Forest Preserve in Oakbrook which has a dog park. Also, as a taxpayer, I want to see that my money is well spent by the village and that we don’t start something without being fully aware of implications related to maintenance and vulnerabilities.
Some of the best resources for relevant information can come from investigating experiences found by other communities that have already established such facilities.
Some topics to investigate:
Space: How much space is recommended for a dog park? How much parking is usually needed?
Use: Who is eligible to use the dog park? How many can be served by the space allotted? Hours? Will permits be required, will they be the same for non-residence as residence? What was the difference between anticipated use and real use in dog parks that have been in existence for a few years.
Rules: What are the rules going to be to use the dog park? What are the typical rules at other dog parks?
Enforcement: Who will enforce the rules? How often and at what costs? What are some of the enforcement issues found at other dog parks?
Maintenance: Who will be responsible for maintenance? What are the typical maintenance requirements of a dog park? What are some typical budget items and costs for maintenance? How long does the surface last before needing replacement? Posting rules. Cleaning dog refuse, providing plastic bags, etc.?
Reading up on the DuPage County experiences proved very interesting. There was certainly a lot of controversy, pros and cons. I was impressed with data on dog bites and arrests, things that I did not initially think about when I first explored the issue.
As Brookfield considers this issue I trust that decision makers will fully investigate it before making a decision.
Sandra Baumgardner
Brookfield
Reasons for RBHS renovation too vague
Some of my confusion over the proposed Riverside-Brookfield High School District 208 $60, million bond issue referendum was cleared up at the school board meeting on Feb. 1, at which the architects for the proposed project made an informational presentation. But the details were totally ambiguous.
The proposal isn’t driven by the need to solve a parking problem and the existing east (girls) gym won’t be removed. The 14 new science labs will be created by partitioning the existing 75 student capacity rooms into 25 student capacity spaces, and part of the construction includes nine new classrooms.
No, the bulk of the proposal is really about new athletic facilities. Someone at the school successfully wrote a federal government grant proposal and obtained $250,000 worth of new exercise equipment?”but there’s nowhere to put it.
The existing 25-yard pool is looking tired. Various groups within the community use the pool and athletic facilities, and there isn’t enough space to accommodate all the requests of these outside groups.
So the architects who oversaw the York High School renovation in Elmhurst were invited by our school board to review the premises and inventory the desires of the school personnel. They estimated that the rough cost of building everyone’s wish list would be about $60 million. Now the board wants our permission to borrow the money to start building.
The problem is that neither the need for these facilities nor their actual cost have been established. The athletic facility expansion seems driven more by requests from outside groups than the actual needs of the students themselves.
Do we really need six full-size basketball courts, a [25-yard] pool, a fieldhouse (aka wellness center) with an elevated running track and a $1.7 million artificial surface for the football field at a school with 1,400 students, a $17 million annual budget, and no large projected enrollment increases?
Worse, the estimated cost to us taxpayers is totally ambiguous. Numbers are only rough “estimates” based on a “band of averages.” No one’s worked out the cost to us based on actual tax bill factors.
I shivered when the superintendent admitted that we’ll need a 30-percent increase in the operating fund (via another referendum) to operate the new, larger facilities. That by itself means that the tax impact of this project will be double the casual estimates offered by the board.
Even if we can believe the board’s rough formula, the owner of a house with a $300,000 fair market value will see a total tax bill increase of $516 per year. A house worth $600,000 (about the average in Riverside) will see an increase of $1,032.
This is being presented to us now not just because the March 21 election is only an off-year primary (which gives it a better chance of passing due to typically low voter turnout), but because we’ve all just been reassessed.
The second installment of our tax bill, due in the fall, will include this increase and be much higher than the first installment. The board knows that after we get that bill we’ll never agree to pay for a project this big. Thus, they need to get it passed now.
I’m not opposed to spending money to improve the educational experience of our children. But I am opposed to any proposal which is as vague as this. Our school officials must do a better job of establishing need, calculating and communicating the exact costs, the financing methods, and the ultimate cost to us taxpayers.
It’s not just another project; it’s the largest proposed bond issue referendum ever placed before the voters in this district. Without more precision we should vote “no.”
Terrence Heuel
Riverside