On Monday, Jan. 27, Kaneland Community Unit School District 302 hosted its regularly scheduled board meeting at 7 p.m. in the sixth-grade team room at Kaneland Harter Middle School. All board members were present except for Ryan Kleisner. Following the Pledge of Allegiance and roll call, board member Aaron McCauley asked to move the approval of the bid for the 2024 electrical life safety work to new business. After the board and superintendent salutes, eight public comments were made, with many regarding the delay of the ninth-grade expansion at Kaneland IgKnight Personalized Learning Academy (KIPLA).
Information regarding this was also presented to the board later in the meeting.
“When we’re thinking about KIPLA, we need to remember the bigger picture [of] the community,” Sugar Grove resident and parent to two KIPLA students Lynn Liska said. “Here we have [personalized learning] right at our fingertips, and we’re almost letting it slip away.”
More public comments were made regarding the proposed TIF for the Crown Community Development project in Sugar Grove. Sugar Grove Village President Jennifer Konen and Sugar Grove Village Administrator Scott Koeppel attended the meeting to provide information and answer board members’ questions regarding the TIF later in the meeting.
“I urge the board to critically evaluate the long-term consequences of this development. Our priority should align with the health, safety and education of our kids,” Sugar Grove resident Amy Maher said.
The first item under new business was approval of the administrative cost cap waiver. Assistant Superintendent of Business Jackie Bogan explained this year’s administrative expenditures. The limitation in administrative expenditures each year is 5% over the prior year’s actual expenditures. For 2024, the expenditures are about 14% over the 5% limit, primarily due to the retirements of three district administrators. The board approved to submit a one-year waiver for the administrative cost limitation.
Following the approval, the board moved to discuss the TIF and the Crown Industries Proposed Project in Sugar Grove.
Konen and Koeppel explained that the development will benefit the school district once the tax diversion expires and that money would come to the district through surpluses and each child produced within the TIF district.
McCauley brought up how the increased traffic and semi-trucks in the development could increase the risk to students traveling on Rt. 47. Konen explained that the Illinois Department of Transportation would force roadway improvements to Rt. 47 if the Crown development project was approved.
“Signalized intersections would be put in if this development went through,” Konen said. “At Seavey Rd., and at a future intersection at Scott Rd. and Denny extension, those would be two traffic lights.”
Board Vice President Bob Mankivsky asked why there is a need for a TIF for this land development.
“On the part of Sugar Grove and the leadership…there’s been a lack of transparency and a lack of preparedness,” Mankivsky said.
Before moving forward, the board would like to decide their priorities and gain a better understanding of the TIF. Superintendent of Schools Dr. Todd Leden has been discussing with the board’s attorney to provide information and answer questions regarding the TIF at a future meeting.
Koeppel said that all TIF documents will be sent to all taxing bodies as soon as they are received.
Next was the approval of the bid for the 2024 electrical life safety work, which was moved from the consent agenda to new business. After discussing how the electrical work was part of a bigger plan broken up to take place over multiple summers, the board approved the electrical work for the summer of 2024.
The next item under new business was the presentation of the financial impact that KIPLA has had on the district’s budget, including reasons behind the current delay to expand to ninth grade for the 2024-25 school year.
KIPLA Principal and Personalized Learning Coordinator Laura Garland gave an overview of the purpose of KIPLA, and Director of Human Resources Dr. Chris Adkins provided information on staffing allotments and current enrollment numbers at KIPLA.
“From year to year, it is difficult to know whether or not there will be enough students enrolled, support and resources available to run any given program when it’s a highly specialized program,” Adkins said.
Director of Educational Services 6-12 Patrick Raleigh then discussed more in terms of the logistical needs for a ninth-grade expansion and the reasons for a delay. The main concerns are enrollment numbers, staffing and the financial impact it would have on the district. Currently, around 10 eighth-grade students expressed interest in the expansion.
“If we were anywhere from 20-25 [students], we thought we could engage in that particular type of learning,” Raleigh said.
The board also discussed concerns about a loss of interest in KIPLA if the academy does not expand to ninth grade.
“We wouldn’t have [opened KIPLA] if we didn’t see the need and that it was going to work,” board member Jennifer Simmons said.
The board decided to continue to discuss the costs and staffing of a potential expansion at the next board meeting.
“We need to make a firm commitment regardless of what’s going to happen. We’re going to spend this amount, or we won’t,” Board President Addam Gonzales said.
The next item under new business was the approval of summer school fees for the summer of 2024. Career and Technical Education and Multi-Tiered Systems of Support teacher Brock Feece will be the summer school principal for middle and high school students. Similarly, Kaneland John Shields and Kaneland John Stewart Assistant Principal Kara Salto will be the summer school principal for elementary students. In their new roles, they explained that there would be several fee changes and a shift from summer school being in June to July. The board approved the logistics and fees for summer school 2024.
After the approval, Bogan gave an overview of the intergovernmental agreement with the Village of Elburn, which includes the operation and maintenance of a lift station and force main on the Kaneland High School campus. Elburn currently pays for the costs associated with repairs and maintenance for the lift station and force main. The board voted to approve the shared cost to maintain and repair the force main and lift station with the Village of Elburn.
The last item under new business was information about the Learning Forward Conference that several district and administrative staff members attended in December.
Following the superintendent and board report, more public comments were made regarding KIPLA and the Crown Development TIF.
“I wanted to thank the board for your consideration in this,” Elburn resident and KIPLA parent Ben Kirkland said. “I would ask you to look at it from a perspective of, ‘Do you want to help the administration honor the commitment that they made,’ not, ‘Do we want to make a commitment to this?”
Sugar Grove Fire Chief Brendan Moran commented on the potential approval of a TIF in Sugar Grove.
“I am under four [TIF districts] in my fire district,” Moran said. “Two are in Sugar Grove, and two are in Montgomery. So, if this next one goes through, that’s five. One more is going to have a huge impact on us.”
Blackberry Township resident Dale Essling read a letter from a Willow Creek resident concerning the TIF, his main concern being funding the school district.
“I worry especially for the school district who will now face the long-term effects of a proposed TIF,” Essling read. “I know that our high school is especially in serious need of remodeling. This TIF can only hurt or delay that effort even more.”
The next board meeting will be held on Monday, Feb. 12.
