Why We Built What We Built

The vision of the Board of Education and administration in 2014:

• Educate all Waltham students in one facility in order to align our students in the educational process from kindergarten through 8th grade

These were the issues identified:

• Financial cost/upkeep of two aging buildings
• Transportation of students between two buildings
• Continuity of education for all Waltham School students
• Equalizing access to technology, physical education, art, music, special education, and student support services
• Maximizing effectiveness of resources including teacher professional development/communication
• Shared school community; working together as one

The Illinois Educational Adequacy results evaluate the condition and capacity of school facilities across the state, highlighting areas that meet or fall short of the necessary standards to provide a high-quality education.

Educational Adequacy is determined by the following categories:

• School Site
• Structural and Mechanical Features
• Plant Maintainability (facility/campus)
• Building Safety and Security
• Educational Adequacy
• Environment for Education

Ranking categories for schools are:

• Excellent
• Satisfactory
• Borderline
• Poor

Results:

• Former North site received a poor rating of 55.4%;
• Former South site was rated borderline at 60.7%.

In contrast, our current Waltham School building is rated in the highest category, with an Excellent rating.

Three Community Engagement meetings were held with the public on October 16th, November 5th, and December 3rd, 2014. The committee was made up of 14 people: 3 from the rural community, 3 from the subdivisions, and 3 from the Village of Utica, including a current Village Trustee, as well as 3 staff members, and 2 Board of Education members.

At these meetings we discussed the following items:

• Enrollment projections showed that our enrollments would not exceed 220 students. (For reference, enrollment for the 2023-2024 school year was 256 students.)
• Scenarios including building a new school at the North site, building a new school at the South site, adding on to the North building and making necessary repairs, or securing a new site and building new construction.
• There were also 3 pieces of property (current site and two others along Richard Hallett Road) that were investigated as possible new construction sites.
• Immediate Health Life Safety and physical needs and repairs would have been $2.6 million dollars for the North building and $1.1 million dollars for the South building to remain open without any 21st century learning additions or improvements.
• Cost would be $6.6 million dollars to complete the above needs and bring both the North and South buildings to 21st century learning standards. However, we would still be operating two school campuses.

In 2015, the amount that the school district could bond for, without legislation, was $6.8 million dollars, as shown on the above graphic.

In November 2016, the taxpayers of Waltham School District were asked, "Should Waltham School use every possible effort to use funding sources to build one new Waltham School building without increasing property tax rates?

• Results from the advisory question:
• 901 Yes and 432 No

• The above advisory question guided further decisions on what funding was available to build without impacting local taxpayers.
• Intergovernmental agreements with the City of LaSalle and Village of Utica were re-negotiated and extended.
• The District sold funding bonds that were paid through TIF agreements with municipalities.
• Legislation was needed in order to bond more than the $6.6 million dollar debt limits the district had.
• The superintendent negotiated with local legislatures resulting in Senate Bill 1290, passed into law in 2017, that increased our debt capacity from $6.8 million to $9.5 million in order to fund the building project.
• The District took out a fourteen (14) year general obligation building bond for the current Waltham School building.
• Spending limit for our current building was set at $9.5 million.
• 88% of our bonds will be paid for through the TIF intergovernmental agreements due to the creative financial planning of the superintendent and Board of Education.
• We are in year seven (7) of our payment obligation.

• Waltham School District #185 asked our community what they wanted, listened to the feedback, and followed through on the promise of using the maximum funding that could be secure at the time.

Because we made a conscious decision not to raise taxes when we first constructed the initial building, we now find ourselves in a position where, should we move forward with this addition, we will need to raise taxes only once, for the full $20 million project. This approach ensures that the financial responsibility is clearly defined and allows us to continue enhancing our community without recurring tax increases in the future.