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Northbrook School District 27 will be hosting three referendum information sessions next month to help provide you with more information and answer any questions you may have about the April 1, 2025 referendum.
Referendum Information Sessions
- 6:30 pm Tuesday, February 18, at Hickory Point Elementary School.
- 6:30 pm Wednesday, February 19, at Wood Oaks Junior High School.
- 6:30 pm Monday, February 24 (Virtual – please register HERE).
Each session will include a formal presentation and Q&A.
About the Referendum
Over the past year, our community has collaborated on a plan for the future of our schools. This consensus plan will appear on our ballots in the upcoming April 1st election to establish a debt service extension base (DSEB) for the district at $2.655 million, which would result in an annual tax increase of $422 for the average homeowner ($600,000 assessed home value). This would allow the district to:
- Sustainably Address Our Facility Needs
- Make Our Schools Even Safer
- Improve Learning Environments for All Students
The plan will allow our district to address our facility needs now and into the future in a sustainable and responsible way. Our district does not have a DSEB while most other districts in the state have access to this funding source, including most of our surrounding districts. Funding our needed infrastructure improvements through a DSEB instead of traditional bonds ensures a long-term funding source, providing a sustainable solution to the district’s immediate and ongoing infrastructure needs. It also allows us to issue bonds as funding is needed for specific projects rather than all at once, resulting in significant interest cost savings for taxpayers. As a result, our community overwhelmingly chose this funding mechanism during community engagement by over a three-to-one margin.
The plan will make our schools safer by improving infrastructure throughout the district. We will be able to address immediate infrastructure and mechanical needs at all schools, including roofing, HVAC replacements, and electrical system upgrades. We will be able to install interior, police-accessible security cameras and improve access control inside our buildings using key fobs to create a more secure environment for students and teachers. We will also be able to make our parking and student drop-off safer and more efficient by adding lanes and increasing parking spaces at Wood Oaks.
The plan will ensure every student learns in an environment that supports high achievement. We will be able to upgrade classroom technology and wireless infrastructure to enhance learning opportunities for all students. We will be able to make significant upgrades to classroom furniture at all schools to support 21st-century learning environments for students. We will construct four additional classrooms at Hickory Point to house early childhood, special education, and daycare programs to provide enough space to meet community demand. We will also create additional multi-use space at Hickory Point for PE, lunch, and after-school programming use.
This sustainable and responsible plan addresses our challenges now and into the future, ensuring our schools continue to meet our community’s high expectations. Our facilities will not hold us back, allowing us to continue delivering the highest education level to our students. In addition, families will continue to want to move here, keeping us competitive and further increasing property values for residents.
Please visit our webpage for additional referendum details and resources, including a tax calculator and voting information.
We look forward to further discussing this plan with you over the next few months.