District 45 is funded at only 85% of adequacy, operating with nearly $8 million less per year than recommended. This is largely due to a lack of state and federal funding, with our district receiving only 20% of funding from these sources compared to 36% in the average district in Illinois.

 

For years, our district was able to make do. But then COVID hit, requiring necessary but costly expenditures to improve health and safety during the pandemic crisis while also significantly increasing the cost of the approved referendum projects. Since the pandemic, the cost of education has increased exponentially, especially for districts like ours with students with additional needs—24% of district students have IEPs and require special education, highest among peer districts in DuPage County. These factors led to fiscal deficits from 2020 to 2023, reducing the district’s fund balance from a healthy 57% in 2015 to a concerning 18% now.

 

The current district leadership team, led by the new superintendent and a fiscally responsible board, have actively worked to improve the district’s finances by fighting for additional federal and state funding while reducing expenditures, trying to keep cuts as far away from classrooms as possible. They’ve made significant cuts at the administrative level, eliminating six central office positions and not filling a seventh. And they are practical in how they spend our tax dollars, spending less per student than the state average and peer districts in DuPage County.

 

However, with deficits projected in future years, unless the district receives additional funding, difficult decisions will need to be made to balance the budget as early as March of 2026. This includes teacher layoffs, larger class sizes, and, if finances continue to get worse, building closures and redistricting.

 

That’s why District 45 transparently communicated their financial situation to the public and facilitated an open, honest discussion over how the community would like to proceed. The result is the community-driven plan for the future of our schools that is on our ballots now as a referendum.

 

If we vote yes on the referendum, the district can avoid implementing the cost-cutting steps the community has emphatically said they wish to avoid.

 

The district will not need to close schools, which would have required significant redistricting, longer bus rides, and loss of neighborhood schools. And the district will not need to maximize class sizes, which would have resulted in a reduction of classroom and non-classroom teachers and support staff, leading to less individual and small group instruction time for students and less classroom support for each individual’s needs. 

 

Instead, the district can continue to increase our students’ academic performance, better support our amazing teachers, and pursue even more financial efficiencies consistent with the community’s priorities.

 

That’s why we need to vote yes on the referendum!