Aligning School and Community Leaders

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Aligning School and Community Leaders

• Community Unit School District 300
• Carpentersville, IL

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Background Information

• Community Unit School District 300 encompasses
  118 square miles within 4 different counties and
  15 villages located 45 miles northwest of
  Chicago. The current enrollment is 18,700
  students.
• The common bond for these communities is the
  school district.
• The school district has grown by an average of
  500 students per year for the past 14 years.
• Over 15,000 housing units have been approved for
  construction within the next 10 years.

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District 300 Boundary Map
CARY
LAKE IN THE HILLS
FOX RIVER GROVE
BARRINGTON HILLS
ALGONQUIN
HUNTLEY
CARPENTERSVILLE
HAMPSHIRE
GILBERTS
WEST DUNDEE
EAST DUNDEE
HOFFMAN ESTATES
PINGREE GROVE
ELGIN
SLEEPY HOLLOW
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Community Leadership Council Letter of
Understanding

• Letter of Understanding
• Between Community Unit School District 300 and
• Communities, Park Districts located within the
  School Districts Boundaries
• Community Unit School District 300s primary
  mission is to help students reach their potential
  as self-directed learners and responsible
  citizens. To support this mission, the School
  District and communities located within the
  School District are committed community-wide to
  strengthening the capacity for long-term change,
  while establishing a tradition for continuous
  improvement.
• The purpose of this Letter of Understanding is to
  declare what is most important to the education
  of our youth, including the need for a strong
  relationship of support between the School
  District and communities. Recognizing this, the
  signatories of this letter intend the following
• To continue to identify funding sources through
  Statutory regulations, both existing and
  proposed, granted by the State for enhancing
  quality education and actively pursuing funding
  sources from all sources and levels of
  government
• To be leaders within the Fox Valley region in the
  development and sharing of innovative tools which
  aid in providing the resources to maintain
  quality education
• To respect varying opinions, yet remain mindful
  of the common bond that unites the School
  District and communities
• To remain and continue in serving as a model for
  other School Districts and Communities in
  encouraging development of a strong cooperative
  relationship between citizens and the School
  District
• To participate and find common ground and purpose
  in promoting quality education throughout the
  School District and beyond
• To create a diverse coalition of School District
  300 stakeholders, i.e., administrators and
  teachers, community leaders and elected
  officials, business leaders, service
  organizations, citizen volunteers, students and
  residents
• Through this Letter of Understanding and to
  maintain the commitments outlined in this letter,
  Community Unit School District 300 and the
  communities within the School District pledge to
  continue a Community Leadership Council in
  District 300 and a network of liaison committees
  to encourage open and ongoing communication of
  issues of mutual concern and interest.
• Thus, by signing this letter of understanding,
  the Communities and School District 300 promise
  to pursue the mechanism of outreach, education,
  and citizenship that will distinguish the
• community as to the honorable goals outlined
  above. The signatories of this Letter of
  Understanding realize that, through action,
  activities, and awareness, this initiative will
  continue as a model for encouraging positive
  relationships.
• Signed this date__________________

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How Do You Start a Community Leadership Council?

• Invite the village leaders.
• Presidents, trustees, village managers, park
  district officials
• Working lunches work well
• Allow time for the group to form
• Keep to the agenda and allow all attendees to
  share their news
• Stay committed to the time frame
• Bi-monthly meetings work well
• Keep Communication link open through meeting
  minutes, reminders, agendas

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What Are the Challenges When the Council First
Starts Its Work?

• Our Council started in 1998
• Low attendance can be an early challenge
• Follow-up with potential members is essential to
  consistent attendance
• True interaction between all members is essential
• Trust and comfort levels with one another may
  take time to establish

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The District Benefits With Positive Networking
and Public Relations

• The school district is able to monitor
  development in villages
• The school district and villages are able to
  share challenges and opportunities
• The school district is able to share student and
  staff successes
• Share information between village, school
  district, and park district officials
• Become a lobbying force in state
• Link with legislative groups

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Role of Public Officials on the Community
Leadership Council

• Meet village and school district officials to
  discuss areas of common interest
• Be a critical friend to colleagues in the group
• Befriend colleagues in villages who are new to
  the challenges of growth
• Understand the realities of the school system and
  the circumstances of the surrounding communities

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Impact Fees Related to Development

• Establish common language, beliefs, and
  understanding of the impact fee itself
• Share ordinances for common language and format
• Discuss equalized assessed values per acre
• Use common language including the ISCS
  (Naperville) formula, common acreage and student
  enrollment per building type, and expectations
  for collection and expenditure of collected
  impact fees

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Transition Fees Related to New Housing
Developments

• New concept to our area first initiated by
  Village of Algonquin
• Fills the lag time between occupancy and first
  collection of property taxes
• Is usually part of an annexation agreement
• Through the Leadership Council discussing this
  issue we now have 6 villages who have adopted
  this transition fee
• The transition fee is between 2,750 and 3,500
  per housing unit

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Land Donations for New Schools

• Through the Leadership Council we now meet with
  developers up front and define needs
• The school district attends Plan and Zone
  Commission Meetings to clarify needs with
  villages
• We work to combine property options in growing
  communities for larger school sites
• We submit a check list to villages on potential
  school sites to verify the appropriateness of
  building on a donated piece of land

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A Successful Collaboration Creating a Wireless
WAN (Part 1)

• Our computer system was 20 years old and needed
  upgrading
• Antiquated infrastructure dictated a change for
  more bandwidth
• Created preliminary plans calling for a wireless
  wide area network (WAN) to meet growing
  population needs
• The preliminary plan would necessitate the
  installation of 6 cell towers (between 50 and 200
  foot tall) that would be on school sites for the
  network to work

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A Successful Collaboration Creating a Wireless
WAN (Part 2)

• Presented preliminary plans to the Community
  Leadership Council
• The school district was offered space on village
  owned water towers in lieu of the cell tower
  option
• The system was redesigned and installed on
  village owned water towers in a 6 month timeframe
• Saved the school district 500,000 in cell tower
  installation costs

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Property Tax Rebate Question

• A local village asked for a property tax rebate
  on a shopping center complex states the complex
  CANNOT be built without school district
  concessions
• School District 300 completes a financial
  analysis of the situation
• The Community Leadership Council examines the
  issue and provides feedback on their experiences
• The Board of Education decides NOT to endorse the
  rebate request
• Shopping complex is currently being built without
  the rebate (will open in the spring of 2006) and
  the school district will collect the full
  property taxes due

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Other Accomplishments of the Community Leadership
Council

• Negotiated a combined site for a village hall and
  a new elementary school
• Worked together to secure a traffic signal at a
  dangerous intersection
• Expanded the size of gyms at two elementary
  schools in conjunctions with the park district
• Entered into an intergovernmental agreement with
  another park district to share land for a school
  site
• Boys and Girls Club programming through the
  park district to offer academic opportunities
  after school, which has led to improved student
  performance and removal from the state academic
  watch list

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How Does the School District Benefit Financially?

• More consistent impact fees from village to
  village
• Establishment of transition fees
• Intergovernmental agreements
• Shared use of facilities
• Negotiating land for school sites
• A combined total of over 40,000,000 in impact
  and transition fees due to School District 300 in
  the next 8 years

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Contact Information for Presenters

• Dr. Kenneth Arndt, Superintendent, CUSD 300
  [phone] x308
• Mr. John Court, Board President, CUSD 300
  www.d300.kane.k12.il.us
• Mr. Bill Ganek, Algonquin Village Manager
  [phone]
• Mr. Chuck Bumbales, Assistant Superintendent of
  Operations, CUSD 300, 847-426-1300 x340
• Mrs. Darlene Johnson, Communication Services,
  CUSD 300 [phone] x304