Deer Park School Board At It Again!

Carolyn Koos and her gang of mindless followers are at it again. This time in the form of a 1.6 million dollar life safety bond which does not require a referendum. This group doesn't know when to stop! After last year's whopping increase they still have not got enough of our hard earned money. Come to the meeting on Monday October 26th at 6PM and see for yourself.

Sorry the meeting is on the 19th of October at 6PM

Do you people realize that if Deer Park School is closed you still have to pay taxes? Then you won't have a choice where your child goes to school and all of the area tax rates are MUCH higher than Deer Park's! Deer Park has one of the lowest tax rates in the area at 2.3%, all of the schools in this area have much higher tax rates...Oglesby, Utica, Grand Ridge, Ottawa, Streator. So before people start worrying about closing a school that has some of the best test scores in the state, they should really take the time to research what the repercussions are!

Keepingitreal wrote:

Do you people realize that if Deer Park School is closed you still have to pay taxes? Then you won't have a choice where your child goes to school and all of the area tax rates are MUCH higher than Deer Park's! Deer Park has one of the lowest tax rates in the area at 2.3%, all of the schools in this area have much higher tax rates...Oglesby, Utica, Grand Ridge, Ottawa, Streator. So before people start worrying about closing a school that has some of the best test scores in the state, they should really take the time to research what the repercussions are!

I realize that other districts have higher rates(slightly) but my concern is the out of control spending by our school board! What other school in the entire state spends what we do per student? This isn't the U of I! How much lower could our rate be if someone on the board was fiscally responsible? The 2010 budget was just approved with a 20% increase in spending. On what? And now they are talking about 1.6 million in "Life/Safety bonds" with no referendum? I think you need to do a little research, because people in the district are fed up. Look outside your window "keepingitreal" and you might see what is going on in the real world!

if the previous school boards had raised the taxes slowly and done updates, instead of just keeping the taxes down and leaving it for the next board members to clean up their mess, deer park wouldn't be in this position. i love the quality of education my children are getting there. so the school is older and needs alot of repairs, the state is not coming up with the funding..close the school? how ridiculous is that? maybe you will have to smoke one less pack of cigarettes a week, cut down on the lattes, not go out to eat as much. it is going to be a very small tax increase to improve the school and keep it going for the future generations!!!not sit here and do nothing and let them worry about the future problems!!!

angryottawataxpayer wrote:

Carolyn Koos and her gang of mindless followers are at it again. This time in the form of a 1.6 million dollar life safety bond which does not require a referendum. This group doesn't know when to stop! After last year's whopping increase they still have not got enough of our hard earned money. Come to the meeting on Monday October 26th at 6PM and see for yourself.

First of all, mindless followers? These happen to be the best school board Deer Park has had! Because Ms. Koos is a go getter,is always looking to improve Deer Park, to keep it going in the right direction. Taxes haven't gone up in years. That was great for everyone, because the previous boards didn't want their taxes going up! Who does? I want my children to continue to get the quality of education that Deer Park is providing. Changes have to be made. Where would it start? Yes, come to the meeting. Taxes aren't going to stay the same for a limetime. There are still bills to pay..the economy will go up.

The per student spending is so high at Deer Park because of the smaller enrollment of the school. Many of the costs that schools have are the same, regardless if there are 10 students enrolled or 300 students enrolled, you still have to maintain the building and keep it running, employ staff, etc. Therefore, the per student expenditure ratio isn't an accurate measure when compared to other larger schools. As far as the increase in the budget and levy is concerned, the previous school board under levied for the three years before the new board took seat. The rate of increase in the levy, was to make up for deficits caused by the previous board.

I have never said the school should be closed. I am pro-education believe it or not! I am not pro-spending, however. In these economic times for a board to approve a budget increase of 20% is reckless and irresponsible. And then to seek a life/safety bond for 1.6 million on top of that? If Koos and the board spent as much time figuring out ways to save money instead of spending it, we would all be better off.
I understand your passion about kids receiving a quality education; I am equally passionate about my children's educational experience, and would like to be able to continue to afford them every opportunity I can give them.

P.S. I don't smoke, drink coffee, or eat out. Any other suggestions on how I can save money to foot the bill for this latest potential increase?

angryottawataxpayer would be real angry if they lived in ottawa with 3.68 tax rate which is 55% higher then deer park. That "slightly" higher amount is a $2500 increase for a typical household and you are complaining about the $500 increase you saw last year. The bond for the new Central School will be over $5 million which will cost you an additional $2000 a year. By all means switch your kids over to Ottawa, they could use your money! Grand Ridge is overcapacity as well and plans a $3 million expansion above the 2.98 rate which will cost a typical resident a "slightly" higher $2350 more per year, lets consolidate and make it a $5 million dollar expansion. I note your Seneca address which is the only lower taxed school district because of Com Ed. Ask them to lower their taxes and shut the school down so they can finance Ottawa.

Angryottawataxpayer and others who do not get it.
Compare you tax break down to 4 and 5 years ago. You will see you got a gift! I like to receive but I also like to give. That is the real problem, once some people GET, GET, GET, they become spoiled!
Think about the consequences. The life/safety is not a choice it is necessity for the life (priceless) and Safety (protection) of our children and those who enter the building.(You are going Monday?) Did you know there was gas leak in the building just recently? Worst case the building could have blown up! Luckily it did not, the kids or staff did not have to go to the hospital, and the situation was handled quickly and properly.(Thank you staff) The leak came from one of the out dated heating systems. Do you want to take responsibility for the life of our children? The life /safety issues in my opinion make our new board VERY responsible individuals and it shows they care about lives. Last of all, I think Mrs. Koos is doing a fine job. Maybe her only fault is caring to much about Deer Park School.
Do you go to the meetings on a regular basis? From what I hear is no one comes 90% of the time. If you don’t start going.

angryottawataxpayer wrote:

I have never said the school should be closed. I am pro-education believe it or not! I am not pro-spending, however. In these economic times for a board to approve a budget increase of 20% is reckless and irresponsible. And then to seek a life/safety bond for 1.6 million on top of that? If Koos and the board spent as much time figuring out ways to save money instead of spending it, we would all be better off.
I understand your passion about kids receiving a quality education; I am equally passionate about my children's educational experience, and would like to be able to continue to afford them every opportunity I can give them.
P.S. I don't smoke, drink coffee, or eat out. Any other suggestions on how I can save money to foot the bill for this latest potential increase?

We don't live in a system where taxes stay the same each year. You have to make it work. Whereever you live, you have to make it work for you. The board has been trying to do what is best for Deer Park School. Sometimes taxes have to be raised to pay for things that need to be done, that I might add are long over due. So you will just have to figure out where you will find the extra money for the tax increase. When fuel went up, people traveled less, carpooled more, etc. The bottom line is the board is doing the best thing possible for the school and the students.

ottawataxpayer-
Funny you cry now! You didn't seem to concerned before the tax increase early this year as nothing was posted on the forum before that increase.

angryottawataxpayer wrote:

I have never said the school should be closed. I am pro-education believe it or not! I am not pro-spending, however. In these economic times for a board to approve a budget increase of 20% is reckless and irresponsible. And then to seek a life/safety bond for 1.6 million on top of that? If Koos and the board spent as much time figuring out ways to save money instead of spending it, we would all be better off.
I understand your passion about kids receiving a quality education; I am equally passionate about my children's educational experience, and would like to be able to continue to afford them every opportunity I can give them.
P.S. I don't smoke, drink coffee, or eat out. Any other suggestions on how I can save money to foot the bill for this latest potential increase?

OK, you never said that Deer Park School should be closed, but actions speak louder than words...The pole “Should Deer Park Grade School be closed?” was created by YOU.

Just go ahead and put a FOR SALE sign in your front yard, pay higher taxes in the next town, ENJOY.

Oddly enough I didn't hear any pro-school comments at the meeting last night. Were you guys all too busy to attend?

No one shows up for meetings unless they are there to complain! Believe me -- no one will ever tell a board they are doing a great job! Give our board a break--they are doing as well as they can in the situation they are in. The past boards were so tight that nothing was done--no matter what they said at the meeting -- bandaids were put on to fix -- not real solutions to the problems!

Don Jensen (left) questions the board about the itemized list of code violations found at Deer Park school while Tom Weiss (right) listens during a crowded meeting Monday night at Deer Park School.
Part of the newspaper article from the News Tribune (Lasalle Il Paper) Oct 20th
Talk is cheap when you don't pay property taxes for Deer Park!

It is now funny where the schools situation is now at.
Wasnt it roughly 10-12 years ago when the school had a good surplus, which was put aside by the previous fiscally responsible administrations, in order to take care of situations as they come up such as these.
These same radical people, who would not listen to the truth if it hits them right in between the eyes, made such as ruckus, and then proceeded to get some board members elected, who instead of lowering the tax rate to a sustainable level which would have provided for these situations, proceeded to slash the tax rate to a very unsustainable level for the future, but also used up this surplus to a point of where it is today.
Do you remember this Judy, as you were one of them??????
Now the people of Deer Park will have to pay a grossly larger amount of money, than they would have if they just lowered the rate to a sustainable level. I guess your plan worked out well didnt it??
They current board needs to do what is required to get the school back in shape, and not be pushed into a situation to what the last 10 years have brought about.

The Chicago Tribune just announced the ranking of schools based on ISAT test scores, Deer Park was #1 out of 44 schools in LaSalle County for the last 2 years and ranked in the top 3% out of 3,665 schools in the state. It's amazing to me that people would want a PUBLIC school that has scores that high and one of the lowest tsx rates in the STATE to be closed!

What people need to understand is Deer Park is a Great little school. If they force it to close or consolidate their TAXES WILL GO UP and you will end up in a different district with a poor education system and not a championship Girls Basketball Team! How do you inform people who do not want to listen.
Or worse yet people who listen to NON-TAXPAYERS like Don and Tom. Judy still has her followers despite having run the school into disrepair, raising TAXES 75%, and arguing for hours over cost that she initiated before getting voted out. I heard she had plans for a $6 million dollar expansion and she rehired Mrs. Koos before leaving!