Members of a campaign committee assembled for the $36.3 million bond referendum to build a new Maple School said the case will be taken to all the people of Northbrook/Glenview Elementary District 30, instead of just those most likely to vote for it.
“Do you go about a non-campaign, or go about this informing the whole district of what the issues are?” said Jeff St. John, one of the leaders of the Citizens for the District 30 Bond Referendum. “We think it’s fair to try to talk to everybody.”
Since the school board approved the referendum in December, the committee has been three men: St. John and Pat Dunbar, both of whom have served on District 30 caucus committees that have slated district board members; and Carlo Cavallaro, a former board president. After the first meeting of supporters Jan. 29, there are 10 members, St. John said.
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He noted that though off-year elections, such as the one April 4, often draw relatively few voters, there could be a significant number of district voters interested in the Northbrook and Glenview village board races who may know little or nothing about the referendum.
He said that the first of two all-district mailings will go out later this month. Two coffees are set for March. One is at the town center of Northbrook’s Covenant Village senior complex at 1:30 p.m. March 15, according to campaign worker Beth Preis. She said the Korean American Parents Organization is trying to set another one up earlier the same day at the Northbrook Public Library.
A third will be at 7:30 p.m. March 8 in Northbrook’s Sunset Fields neighborhood, at 1740 Ellendale Drive.
All of them will feature a description of the needs of Maple School by superintendent Brian Wegley. Wegley said he’ll be careful not to promote the referendum, illegal for a district employee under Illinois law.
“My understanding is one of my jobs as a district superintendent is to share information,” he said. “I’m not going to tell people to vote one way or another then I leave.”
Similarly, he may continue to take part in tours of Maple which, supporters say, better tell the story of needs there.
Preis, too, is a district employee, who handles the school system’s public relations.
“She’s doing this as a resident and supporter,” St. John. “She’s being very careful not to do anything at work.”
St. John said that committee members are worried that “the unease” prevalent after the November election may interfere in their aims, but worse, that the Illinois budget woes may lead voters to hang onto their wallets.
“Demographically, the biggest opposition is probably in the pre-retiree group, in the mid to late 50s, sending kids to college,” St. John said.
He said he hopes to convince them with the district’s financial record of being debt free, and not having had a bond referendum since 1975. He said the district plans to add $5.2 million from reserves to pay the full cost of $41.5 million to rebuild the school, and do life-safety work at the district’s two elementary schools.
He also said that a better school, he hoped, would bring higher home values at time of sale.
“We think it’s worth it to them economically,” he said.
He said he considers it key that if a new Maple isn’t built, the old one will need about $15 million in repairs. That would be a waste, he said.
“It’s not one of those situations where you build a new school or you don’t build anything,” he said.
St. John said the campaign has a web site, and is working on Facebook and Twitter presences as it tries to win the campaign and raise $10,000 to $15,000 to do it.
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