WC_030719

winnetkacurrent.com NEWS
the winnetka current | March 7, 2019 | 3
D36 officials address referendum,
enrollment at public session
New Trier’s Senior Class Presents
Ronnie Wachter
Freelance Reporter
Close to 50 visitors attended
an informational
session Feb. 25 about the
$90.6 million referendum
that The Winnetka Public
School District 36 has
placed on the April 2 ballot.
At the end of the public
session at Greeley School,
district officials answered
questions written on cards
by the audience. No one
expressed any criticisms
of the proposal, although
after the meeting, several
attendees said that previous
sessions have included
rounded discussions of
both praise and concerns.
This session was the
fourth in its series, with
the final two being 6:30-8
p.m. March 18 at Carleton
Washburne and 6:30-8 p.m.
March 21 at Crow Island.
Winnetka’s residents have
been looking closely at the
district since Dec. 18, when
the School Board placed the
referendum on their spring
ballot. If approved, the plan
would mean:
• The replacement of water
pipes in Crow Island,
Greeley, Hubbard Woods
and Carleton Washburne to
reduce lead levels
• Accessibility improvements,
which would be
required by the Americans
with Disabilities Act
• Upgrades to the electrical
capacity, to avoid
“brownouts” (as some officials
described them) when
too many students are using
electronic devices at once
• Ventilation improvements
and asbestos removal
• Renovations or expansions
of cafeterias and libraries
at all four buildings
• The slow withdrawal
of district activities from
Skokie, which might eventually
be rented out for
other uses.
Winnetka resident Maggie
Williamson was in attendance
at the informational
meeting and told The
Current she plans to vote in
favor of the tax increase, although
it was not ideal.
“This is the best worstcase
scenario, for me,” Williamson
said. “Our schools’
experience needs to be improved,
just to prepare kids
for New Trier and college.”
District leaders addressed
one of the critics’ primary
concerns, the drop in enrollment.
Winnetka’s most
recent peak came in 2006
at 2,100 students, but for
2018-19 it is around 1,600.
Crow Island, however,
has become overcrowded.
The district responded by
moving its kindergarten
classes to other buildings
and installing two leased
trailers as classrooms. This
led to a separate issue: redistricting.
Superintendent Trisha
Kocanda said she expects
the board to make changes
in the schools’ unbalanced
enrollments, which would
take effect in the 2020
school year.
“That will happen, regardless
of the referendum,”
she said.
But with redistricting,
numerous officials said
during the session, will
not solve the problems
of brownouts in centuryold
buildings, pipe bursts
at recently renovated but
under-insulated buildings,
50-year-old boilers at
Washburne and 20th century
security designs that
take no account for school
shootings and other modern
safety concerns.
Also, today’s public
schools face more requirements
for serving children
Future Referendum
Information Sessions
• 6:30-8 p.m. March
18 at Carleton
Washburne
• 6:30-8 p.m. March
21 at Crow Island
with special needs. Chief
financial officer Brad
Goldstein also described
his own travails of trying
to give privacy to meetings
that take place in hallways.
“There are more special
services, and more meeting
in groups,” he said. “I
have to step over kids all
the time as I do laps around
the building.”
The solutions to those
issues could cost a total
of $100.6 million. To help
fund that, board members
also plan to take $10 million
out of the reserve fund
if voters approve the construction.
The district has not hired
an architect to make firm
designs for each building
yet, and does not have a
plan for what would become
of Skokie.
Winnetka resident Sarah
Martay, who plans to vote
yes on the referendum,
said she had attended other
meetings and listened to
the concerns of those who
disagree with the concept.
No opponents, however,
provided a comment to The
Current on Feb. 25.
“It’ll be interesting to see
how the other half votes,”
she said.
The district is also offering
opportunities to meet
with Kocanda and School
Board members at the district
office from 3:30-5 p.m.
March 13. Call to schedule
an individual appointment
at (847) 446-9400. There
were already two sessions
on Feb. 27 and March 6.
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