• Repair & Restore Facilities
• Update Learning Spaces
• Improve Student Transitions 

• Making District 15 schools safer and more secure
• Extending the useful life of existing school buildings
• Reducing costly emergency repairs
• Improving accessibility
• Enhancing energy efficiency
• Updating classrooms, science labs, and libraries
• Offering full-day kindergarten and creating middle schools
• Reducing overcrowding
• Protecting property values

The District’s Moving 15 Forward website has the full plan and additional resources available for viewing. Please visit https://www.ccsd15.net/Page/10319 for more information. 

As so many parts of the proposed plan are weaved together, the plan - as presented - is an all-or-nothing plan. If the Board moves forward with proposing a referendum, and the referendum is not approved, the Board will need to re-prioritize how to use the District’s $93M. 

If the community votes yes for the Moving 15 Forward plan, and based on current construction schedules, Full-Day Kindergarten will be available for all incoming Kindergarteners in the 2024-2025 school year.

The District has sent multiple mailers to all homes within its boundaries and has conducted both a mail and phone survey to gather feedback. The administration hosted 10 community information sessions for both parents and community members between April and May. Over the summer, they also presented the plan to community organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary. Following the Board's unanimous vote to move forward with the referendum, the District hosted six additional informational meetings in September and October. 

No, the move to the 3-tiered bus schedule and the Moving 15 Forward proposal are not connected. The 3-tiered system was put in place due to the national bus driver shortage. The Moving 15 Forward proposal is a community-driven plan focused on addressing District 15’s highest priority educational and school facility needs.

The pension system is not controlled at the local level. Therefore, the District is obligated to contribute at specified levels. There are currently no options for decreasing costs or converting to another type of plan like a 401K.

The work will be completed in phases, and every effort will be made to ensure that demolition and heavy construction take place during the summer months when students are out of the buildings. District 15 is committed to ensuring the safety of students, staff, visitors, and neighbors during construction. Noise and air quality will be monitored throughout the project. All workers on site will be required to submit to a criminal background check and will remain within the construction area during school hours. Additional details will be provided as construction plans are developed.

Yes, in collaboration with the District's architects, facility team, and the Village, parking at Thomas Jefferson would be increased to accommodate a middle school. 

Yes, the draft 5-year facility and maintenance plan was presented at the Board meeting on September 8, 2021, It can be viewed through the following link.

Yes, the District has put together a 1- 5-year facility plan and is working on a 6 - 10-year plan. This is the first time the District has written such a comprehensive master facility plan that will allow them to schedule the work and budget accordingly. In a District with 1.7 million square of facilities to maintain, having such a document is important so future BOE/Superintendents have a plan.

The District’s goal with these changes is that our buildings will be up to code and have enough modernization that will last our District for years to come. Once the improvements are made, the administration will create a 5 and 10-year capital improvement plan to ensure the District is not in a place moving forward where we will need to again address a large group of repairs and improvements all at once.

The Moving 15 Forward plan would be funded by $93 million from District 15 funds and $93 million from the referendum ask to the community. 

District 15 has listened and worked to develop a community-driven funding proposal that was designed to benefit every District 15 student, school, and community. 

The District portion of $93M is not from an existing surplus. $25M is estimated to come out of current operating revenues in the Operations and Maintenance Fund over the next 5 years. $32M of debt service extension base bonds will mature over the next 5 years and are projected to be reissued. Lastly, the District will sell bonds estimated to be $36M and repay the bonds out of current revenues over 20 years. In FY22, the District budgeted approximately $6.4M out of current operating funds to address various capital improvements throughout the district.

The downsized referendum proposal would fund $93 million of improvements for the schools. 

Legally, the funds received from the bonds may only be used for items listed on the ballot. Like all of District financial information, spending from the proposed bond measure will be publicly disclosed and transparent. Updates on the progress of the improvements will provided regularly.

Contingencies have been built into the plan for unforeseen costs that may arise during construction. If project costs were to extend beyond the estimated amounts, we would eliminate or reduce the project scope on a priority basis. However, we are confident that all of the projects will be completed if the community supports the bond proposal.

No state or federal funding is available for school building projects at this time, nor have such funds been available for several years. That is not anticipated to change anytime in the near future. The District will continue to research this area and apply for state, federal or other funds that may become available.

The most recent audited financial statement (FY2021) shows operating funds (non-restricted funds) with a year-end balance of $58,622,529.  This is just under 38% of the annual operating expenditures in these funds. The District targets between 35% fund balance as a percent of annual expenditures. The minimum fund balance suggested by the Illinois State Board of Education is 25%. The fund balance is needed to provide liquidity to pay salaries and expenses on a monthly basis when the District’s largest source of revenues, property taxes, are received twice annually, typically in August and March. This year the August distribution of property taxes (the second installment of taxes extended in 2021 and collected in 2022) is six months late. While the District waits for Cook County to extend property taxes, it must use its available fund balances to pay monthly expenses and take a short-term loan from a bank to bridge the gap until property taxes are extended. For these reasons, the District’s year-ending fund balance is NOT available to pay for additional capital projects.

On August 22^nd, 2022 homeowners in Palatine Township were mailed Reassessment Notices for levy year 2022 from the Cook County Assessor’s Office.  2022 levy year is the triennial reassessment for the northern portion of Cook County.  

The bond levy is a fixed dollar amount, so a large reassessment rate will lower the bond tax rate such that the computation of the tax impact in terms of dollars will be about the same. (i.e., approximately $146 for a $300,000 market value home).

If a homeowner’s reassessment is higher or lower than the average reassessment in Palatine Township, then its portion of the tax bill will be higher or lower as well.

If a homeowner’s reassessment is due to an improvement such as an addition or renovation to a home, then its tax bill will be higher given the higher value of the improved property.

On August 22^nd, 2022 homeowners in Palatine Township were mailed Reassessment Notices for levy year 2022 from the Cook County Assessor’s Office.  2022 levy year is the triennial reassessment for the northern portion of Cook County.  

No. The amount requested in the referendum is determined by the estimated construction costs for the project.  The taxpayer impact is determined by the amount needed for the project and interest rates at the time the bonds are sold.

On August 22^nd, 2022 homeowners in Palatine Township were mailed Reassessment Notices for levy year 2022 from the Cook County Assessor’s Office.  2022 levy year is the triennial reassessment for the northern portion of Cook County.  

The District is subject to the Property Tax Limitation Law (property tax caps).  The property tax cap will lower the property tax rate to offset the increase in property values.  The only increase available to the District’s operating funds is from CPI increases and new property.

The District’s 5-year forecast and funding plan were presented at the Board of Education meeting on February 25, 2022. It can be viewed through the following link: https://www.smore.com/psrkt.

Yes, you can view information for your school through this link. 

The Moving 15 Forward plan created a more equitable distribution of programs and services instead of placing programs based on where space was available. 

Simply put, more time in school benefits young learners. Students in full-day kindergarten programs gain language and literacy skills faster than students in half-day programs. A full day program increases the amount of time spent on math and reaching and allows time for other subjects such as science, social studies, and specials. Social-emotional and behavioral skills are enhanced because there are additional opportunities for free play and experiential (hands-on learning) when essential academics are not compressed into a few short hours. The State curriculum is designed for a full-day program.

Current Half-Day Schedule and DRAFT Full-Day Schedule:

Yes, the District is required to offer a half-day kindergarten program. 

In a word, yes. The results of the phone poll conducted in June 2021 are clear. Almost two-thirds (61%) of District residents support Full-Day Kindergarten. 

The middle school model moves the junior high schools from a two-year experience (7th-8th grade) to a three-year experience (6th-8th grade). This model gives adolescents more time to learn together and prepare for high school while receiving individual support. Moving to a middle school model allows schools to implement “teams” to provide smaller communities within each school for students to build relationships and collaborate with each other and their teachers.

What started over 30 years ago as a well-intentioned plan to promote integration at less diverse schools in the district has resulted in a large number of bilingual students attending different schools from their neighborhood peers. Our bilingual population has grown substantially over the years, making the overlay challenging to maintain. 

Eliminating the overlay will allow all District 15 students to attend a near neighborhood school which in turn empowers families to more actively participate in their child’s education.

Adjusting school boundaries will help us to address the overutilization and underutilization of our schools without the need for an additional school which was previously proposed (Park Place). Not only do we not need to take on the purchase, upkeep, and additional staffing costs (in perpetuity) of an additional school, we will fully utilize the schools we have by balancing enrollment across all of our existing schools. We currently have schools ranging from 114% capacity down to 76% capacity. Through a combination of boundary adjustments, programmatic moves, and some additions, schools will be closer to our target capacity percentage of 85%. This allows room for future neighborhood growth/turnover and also allows us to expand special education and/or English Language Learner programs based on need and student matriculation over time.

Yes.

Yes, the District works with the municipalities within our boundaries and watches very closely when new residential properties are proposed.

When we refer to a “near-neighborhood” school, we are talking about allowing students to attend a school either within or near the neighborhood they live in. With our current boundaries, we have students who may pass another school to get to the school they attend. We want students to be able to attend a school close to their home. 

Some of our schools are underutilized and others are overcrowded making enrollment across our 20 schools vary. Overcrowded schools typically have more students within each classroom—surpassing grade level Board targets.

When we refer to a “feeder system”, we are talking about a consistent and organized pathway from kindergarten to high school. District 15 currently has education pathways that may split students going into junior high and possibly again going into high school. Feeder patterns help to keep school communities together as they advance through their educational path. To put it more simply: each elementary school completely attends one middle school and each middle school completely attends one high school.

District 15 does not have any control over the high school boundaries. We utilized the high school boundaries that our schools feed into to draw our proposed boundary lines to provide students with a cohesive educational path from kindergarten through 12th grade.

District 15 does not have any jurisdiction over the high school boundaries. We used the current high school boundaries as a key driver to create a cohesive system for our schools through adjusting District 15 boundary lines.

One of the nine priorities outlined by the community was to create a feeder system. District 15 worked with STR Architects and RSP & Associates to study the District’s enrollment, school capacity, and demographic development. These two companies worked with District 15 administrators to create a capacity analysis to assist in determining options for reducing overcrowding in some of our schools through adjusting boundary lines.

If the community approves the plan during the November 8 election, the anticipated timeline for implementation is the 2024-2025 school year.

The Board of Education unanimously approved a resolution to place a bond referendum on the November 8, 2022 ballot. The community will vote on the plan during the November 8 election. 

All construction work will be competitively bid as required by Illinois law.

If the community votes yes for the Moving 15 Forward plan, and based on current construction schedules, Full-Day Kindergarten will be implemented for all incoming Kindergarteners in the 2024-2025 school year. 

The District currently has an IntraDistrict Transfer process that families can access to request to attend a school that is not their home school. This process will remain an option for families moving forward.

The District has not made any decisions as to whether or not grandfathering will be allowed as it is much too early in the process to do so.