McHenry County Blog

West Elementary School in Crystal Lake.

Looking at maximum tax rates for school districts in McHenry County, I discovered that Fox River Grove Elementary School District 3 is blocked from raising its taxes not by the Property Tax Cap, but by having reached it $3.50 per $100 value statutory tax rate limit.

The Board asked for $4.3 million, but was allowed a bit over $4 million due to having reached the tax rate allowed by law.

The grade school district on the east side of Wonder Lake has the same situation.

Harrison Elementary School District 36′s Education Fund is at its $3.50 per $100 of assessed valuation maximum.

Of the other districts, Harvard Unit District is due to bump up against its $4 per $100 of AV maximum Education Fund rate next year.

If Harvard could get the extra 3% allowed by the tax cap, its rate would be $4.03.

And all school districts near their statutory tax rate limits have to worry about the projected 9% decrease in assessment base.

But, because of the maximum rate governing is Education Fund it will be able to increase its Education Fund by about 2.3%.

Districts like the the following have not reached their maximum Education Fund tax limit:

• Cary Grade School
• Crystal Lake Grade School
• Marengo-Union Grade School
• Richmond-Spring Grove (Nippersink) Grade School
• McHenry Grade School
• Prairie Grove Grade School
• Riley Grade School
• Crystal Lake High School
• Marengo High School
• McHenry High School
• Richmond-Burton High School
• Alden-Hebron Unit District
• Barrington Unit District
• Belvidere Unit District
• Carpentersville Unit District
• Huntley Unit District
• Johnsburg Unit District
• Wauconda Unit District
• Woodstock Unit District

I’ve run the increased cost side of the numbers for merging McHenry Grade School District 15 and Wonder Lake’s Harrison School District 36 with McHenry High School District 156 and the numbers verify the judgment of the seven school board candidates Wednesday night.

When asked if they favored consolidation, as proposed Democratic Party Governor Pat Quinn, the answers were

“No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” “No.”

Seeking election to the District 156 High School Board for the first time are Timothy Byers, Darnell Qualls and Tracy Simon. All turned thumbs down on consolidation of school districts, as did the other four candidates for the board who took part in the League of Women Voters candidates' night.

When I calculated the addition cost that bringing grade school teacher salaries up to those enjoyed by Crystal Lake’s High School District 155 teachers, the number was an extra $27 million.

I didn’t know how to calculate the savings from fewer administrators, but Quinn estimated the total to be $100 million statewide.  Would it be even a million dollars savings in District 155?

This part of the school report card shows average salaries in District 15 and compares them to the statewide average.

Elementary school teachers in McHenry District 15 earn an average of $53,496   a year, according to its 2010 School Report Card. (The link can actually be found on the front page of the district’s web site.)

Harrison School District's salaries are shown on the Report Card along with a lot of other data.

In Harrison, the figure is $46,653.  You can see the whole report card here.

The weighted average of the two is $52,853.

If you are into source data, it’s below:

Average salaries and number of teachers

• McHenry High School District 156 – $68,228 – 158 teachers
• McHenry Grade School District 15 – $53,496 – 282 teachers
• Harrison Grade School District 36 – $46,653 – 29 teachers

The average McHenry High School teacher salary is $68,228. That is $14,732 more than the average elementary school teacher's salary in its feeder districts.

So, if we subtract the average grade school salary ($53,496) from the average high school salary ($68,228) the difference is $14,732.  (The link to the high school 2010 School Report Card can be found here.)

With a total of 311 elementary school teachers, the total salary differential is $4,581,652.

Not as much as for District 155 to the south, but still a hefty number.

First to answer the consolidation question, Beth Taylor nailed the reason for opposition.

There were two questions about consolidation of high school and grade school districts at the McHenry High School Board candidates night sponsored by the McHenry County League of Women Voters Wednesday night.

Beth Taylor’s reply to the first question, which focused on possible administrative savings:

“The wage adjustments outweigh administrative savings by 8-10 times.”

Steven White pointed out there are “significant differences in average salary between elementary and high school salaries that would eliminate (any administrative savings).”

The League of Women Votrers moderator at the candidates' night.

Incumbent Board member Mellody Ahrens agreed. “We would have a big salary increase…”

“Consolidation doesn’t seem to be a good idea,” agreed Timothy Byers. “It would cost the district a great deal of money.”

The other candidates made similar remarks.

All had compared the costs of raising elementary school teachers to the higher level of high school teachers and decided it wasn’t a good idea.

Then, the moderator asked for a “Yes,” “No” answer on the topic of consolidation, evoking Governor Pat Quinn’s name.

Both candidates supported by the teachers union and those supported by the taxpaying public opposed consolitation of local grade schools with the high school district.

“No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” “No,” “No,”

said the seven candidates present.

Besides the ones mentioned above, the others in attendance were Steve Bellmore, Tracy Simon and Darnell Qualls.

Missing the meeting were Alexandra Coy and Daniel Koruna.

Why two questions when the answers to the first question were all negative?

I can only image that the Illinois League of Women Voters favors the bill that would bust the budgets of taxpayers on the eastern side of McHenry County where there are not unit districts. (I emailed the state League early Thursday morning asking whether it had taken a position on the legislation, but my email went unanswered.)

Tomorrow, the math.

McHenry County Blog has surveyed school districts with major presences in McHenry County and discovered that union employees paid $3.8 million in dues during calendar year 2010.

The total amount was $3,825,572.

Contracts are typically for more than one year and most expenses would in contract negotiation year.

Most are from dues paid by teachers, but there are also office worker and school bus drivers.

Most go to the Illinois Education Association-National Education Association.

Part of the collective bargaining proposal made by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is to end mandatory union membership.

Illinois, of course, has laws that force all employees of a bargaining unit to pay dues.

The legislation would require that teacher union officials collect their own dues, rather than having as a payroll deduction, as is the case in all of the districts below.

To no one’s surprise, employees of the largest district examined, Carpentersville Unit District 300, paid the most dues.  The total was over $1.1 million.

• Barrington Unit District 220 – $554,555
• Alden-Hebron Unit District 19 – $22,427
• Cary Grade School District 26 – $52,254
• Crystal Lake Grade School District 47 – 315,342
• Crystal Lake High School District 155 – $287,202
• Carpentersville Unit District 300 – $1,122,392
• Fox River Grove Grade School District 3 – $23,599
• Harvard Unit School District 50 – $96,745
• Huntley Unit School District 158 – $356,047
• Johnsburg Unit District 12 – $106,055
• Marengo-Union Grade School District 165 – $48,778
• Marengo High School District 154 – $30,005
• McHenry Grade School District 15 – $207,111
• McHenry High School District 156 – $109,331
• Prairie Grove Grade School District 46 – $10,863
• Richmond-Burton (Nippersink) Grade School District 2 – $59,429
• Richmond-Burton High School District 157 – $37,592
• Riley Grade School District 18 – $9,161
• Wonder Lake (Harrison) School District 36 – $13,249
• Woodstock Unit School District 200 – $372,595

Teachers walk picket line outside Huntley High School in 2008.

The filing has just ended, but lots of grade school board candidates in McHenry County are assured of election.

Here at Election Central, McHenry County Blog declares the fifteen candidates listed below elected.

In Fox River Grove Grade School District 3, there are four openings and four candidates, so there is no contest.

4-year Term (three to be elected)

• Jertry Blohm
• Thomas Mollet
• Devin Bright

2-year (one to be elected)

• Stephen Pickering

McHenry Grade School District 15 is another district where there is no contest.  Get enough signatures to place yourself on the ballot and you won.

2-Year-Term (one to be elected)

• John O’Neill (incumbent)

4-Year-Term (three to be elected)

• Mike Hettermann
• Paul Santopadre
• Patrick Miller (incumbent)

In Cary Grade School District 26, the candidate for the two-year term is assured of election:

• Floyd Myers (one to be elected)

There are four seats that will be on the ballot in Wonder Lake (Harrison) Grade School District 36 and four candidates.  All will obviously win.

Two-year term (one to be elected)

• George Wood

Four-year term (three to be elected)

• Linda Amettis
• Karen Parks
• Laurie Alsot

Prairie Grove Grade School District 46 has but two candidates for three vacancies. Democratic Party candidate for County Board, Lori McConville is one of them.  She will win pubic office, as will the other candidate who filled.

• Khushali Shah
• Lori McConville

The deadline for filing a write-in candidacy with the McHenry County Clerk is Thursday, February 3, 2011.  Get more votes than any other write-in candidate and you’re elected.