March 19, 2007
The Villages Of Bourbonnais and Bradley Will Never Enact Fair Equitable Impact Fees On Residential Developers Unless The BBCHS Referenda Is Voted Down This April 17.
Were Rodale's to publish as phrase “Synonym Finder”, it is certain that BBCHS would be a synonym for “operations opulence.” Even so, the district is asking taxpayers to raise the limit on tax caps so they can spend even more opulently than they have in the past. Here is a brief summary of the BBCHS spending machine.
First, BBCHS has raised its operations tax levy 84.1% over the last 10 years. Enrollment has grown 28.8% during the same 10 year period which means they have already raised their operations tax levy nearly three times the student enrollment growth.
Second, BBCHS has the highest average high school teacher salaries of any of the surrounding districts. Keep in mind these salaries are for a nine month year. BBCHS $60,588.21, Kankakee- $55,360, Manteno High School -$48,027 Peotone High School -$47,142. It is interesting to note that Peotone High School has the highest achievement scores and has the lowest average salaries.
Third, BBCHS has the highest paid teacher in the County. A PE teacher who makes $106,000 per nine month year.
Fourth, BBCHS was one of the biggest pension bump offenders in the state. Their actions were so egregious that the State had to pass legislation outlawing the practice. Here is how the bump worked. Teachers who declared their intention to retire were given a huge raise from $10,000 to $20,000 in their final year of teaching to give them a big pension enhancement. The teachers contribute only 8% to their pension; the taxpayers pay 44% of the pension.
Fifth, the District rewarded the present business manager who was making $100,000 a year with a salary bump to $121,000 to enhance his retirement. He is now drawing his opulent pension and now working for the district on contract at close to the same amount he was paid while he was on staff.
Sixth, BBCHS is now spending thousands of taxpayer dollars to promote their proposed referenda. They are asking current homeowners to finance a new school for an increase in student population that is being brought here by developers who have paid virtually nothing toward the construction of new schools. School districts, with the exception of St. George, have done virtually nothing to secure adequate and timely school impact fees despite the projections of their own consultants.
Seventh, BBCHS Superintendent does not live in the district yet he is actively promoting unfunded, or under funded school population growth in the township. The following statement is prominently displayed on the web site of the “Friends of BBCHS” as of October 14, 2006: “Bradley, Bourbonnais and St. George are great places to live. The area has a lot to offer. Last week I had a call from the Chicago Tribune home division. They are gathering information for a February section focusing on our area. The Growth is real…developers are not paying high prices for land to sit on it or to farm it. The number per year is not a “peak” prediction . . . It is a planning estimate. It may even be a low estimate.” - Mike Hogan, BBCHS Superintendent.
Neither BBCHS nor any other school district, should receive a dimes worth of new money until all the parties responsible for the classroom shortage devise a fair and equitable funding system for building new schools. BBCHS is counting on a low Voter Turn Out. So please get out to Vote this April 17 and tell all your friends and neighbors to Vote NO to this huge tax increase.