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Archive for the ‘WTF’ Category

Thank 220

(Property tax) bills showed an increase of 73% to the school districts of Park Ridge and Barrington, respectively.

By Paris Schutz | WTTW

The median homeowners in Cook County’s north and northwest suburbs saw their property tax bills rise 15.7% this year, according to a new study just released from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office.

The study concludes that it’s the largest residential property tax hike for that part of the county in 30 years. The study also shows the tax burden shifting from commercial properties to residential properties, despite Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s initial campaign promises to shift things in the other direction.

The North Shore suburbs saw modest increases in their residential property taxes, but some of the blue-collar northwest communities were socked the hardest.

Rosemont saw the largest increase at 32%, although residential properties in that community are typically rebated a large portion of that sum due to the revenue that comes from business, entertainment and convention taxes.

Read more here.

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220 Auditorium

“At the October 17 Board meeting, the Board continued its discussion about possibilities for new fine, visual, and performing arts spaces at Barrington High School. The design work for these new spaces was an identified project within the $147 million dollar referendum that Barrington area voters approved (were sold) in 2020. The cost to build these new spaces was not included in the referendum.

The Board is considering Concept Option 2, which was one of the three options architects presented to the Board at its Oct. 3 meeting. At this time, the Board would like to seek community feedback about Option 2 in order to refine the option, so that architects can create a more visual 3D rendering of it. The Board will discuss the manner in which it plans to gain community feedback at its next meeting on Nov. 7. Click here to listen to the Board meeting discussion.

  • Option 2: This option involves building a new auditorium and renovating existing fine arts classrooms. The renovation will also result in a larger band room, a larger choral room, a larger orchestra room, as well as larger and more dressing rooms. The new auditorium would have approximately 969 seats and be ADA-accessible. This option also involves building a production shop and a new fine arts lobby. The projected estimate is $52,000,000 – $57,020,000. Click here for details.

Click here to view the presentation from the Oct. 17 meeting.”

Editorial note: The projected cost estimate for “Option 2” is roughly $55,000,000. For that amount, a 51,100 square foot new auditorium would be built and 45,000 square feet of production, lobby and other spaces would be remodeling.

Therefore, without further “details” mentioned above, what is being considered would cost taxpayers roughly $571 per square foot to build or remodel. That seems high.

At least two publications state the, “Cost to Build a School by Grade Level (Per Square Foot),” is:

  • $295 for Elementary School
  • $325 for Middle School, and
  • $359 for High Schools

An October, 2022, article titled, “How Much Does A High School Cost To Build?,” states:

“…the national average cost of school construction today ranges from a low of $230 per square foot for a high school in Nashville to a high of $558 in New York.”

Since around half of 220’s projected costs are for remodeling and not new construction, and we’re not in New York last time we checked, we strongly suggest someone get objective competitive bids submitted before this referendum rodeo goes any further.

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mm

Illinois state Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills)

LAKE BARRINGTON… State Representative Martin McLaughlin (R-Barrington Hills) from the 52ND House District released the following statement:

Rep. McLaughlin said, “When did the People of Illinois approve of the Governor, and his progressive minions, overtaxing you to create a $1 billion ‘Rainy Day Fund’?”

“All of this money has been sent to fund new programs, yet they continue to tell 22,000 Illinois families that, “we can’t afford $75 million for underprivileged kids’, to participate in the successful, bi-partisan Invest in Kids Scholarship program. God forbid that these families may want to choose a better school to attend, than their local public option,” said McLaughlin.

McLaughlin said, “How about we implement a ‘Sunny Day Rebate Fund’ to pay for the 22,000 kids waiting to get out of our failing public school system and participate in the Invest in Kids Act? To all my colleagues in the House who proclaim that they are for choice, why not this choice?”

“Join me in Veto session to support House Bill 4105 to continue this successful scholarship program without all the political gamesmanship,” concluded Rep. McLaughlin.

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IMG_6733

“At the Oct. 3 Board meeting, the Board discussed BHS course offerings for the 2024-25 school year. Each year, the high school engages in a process to propose changes to the BHS course guide. These changes include new course additions, deletion of courses, and changes to titles, weights, audience, prerequisites, or course descriptions.

Click here to view a presentation that outlines this year’s proposed changes. The Board is anticipated to approve the 24-25 course offerings at its next regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 17. Click here to view the current BHS course guideClick here to listen to the presentation.”

Editorial note: We suggest spending some time during a sleepless night reviewing these offerings. It’s enlightening and sometimes disconcerting. For example, why are there two (2) class on Gender Studies offered, but only one (1) in Civics?

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Too Much

“At the October 3rd Barrington 220 Board of Education meeting, the Board heard a presentation from DLA Architects about possibilities for new fine, visual, and performing arts spaces at Barrington High School. The design work for these new spaces was an identified project within the $147 million dollar referendum that Barrington area voters approved in March 2020. The cost to build these new spaces was not included in the referendum.

This school year, nearly half of the BHS student body is enrolled in fine arts courses. In addition to the instructional spaces used for these courses during the school day, the fine arts spaces are utilized for large-scale community events. The auditorium in particular, which was built in 1960, is used 290 days per year for fine arts events, athletic events, curricular-connected events, and community events.

In order to improve these highly utilized spaces, architects presented three options for the Board’s consideration, which were developed after collecting stakeholder feedback during the 2022-23 school year.

  • Option 1: This option involves renovating the existing auditorium, as well as fine arts classrooms. The renovated auditorium would have approximately 487 seats. (The current auditorium seats approximately 700, however, it is not ADA-accessible. In order to meet present-day accessibility requirements, there would be less space for seating.) This option also involves building two additions near the auditorium, which include new practice spaces for fine arts students, a larger band room, a green room, a multi-purpose room, a new production shop, and a new fine arts lobby. Larger and more dressing rooms are also included in the renovations. The projected estimate is $45,000,000 – $53,195,000Click here for details.
  • Option 2: This option involves building a new auditorium and renovating existing fine arts classrooms. The renovation will also result in a larger band room, a larger choral room, a larger orchestra room, as well as larger and more dressing rooms. The new auditorium would have approximately 969 seats and be ADA-accessible. This option also involves building a production shop and a new fine arts lobby. The projected estimate is $52,000,000 – $57,020,000Click here for details.
  • Option 3: This option involves building a new auditorium in the same spot as the current auditorium, a new music (band, orchestra, choir) wing, a new flexible space that could serve as an art gallery or community space, larger and more dressing rooms, as well as renovating existing fine arts spaces. The new auditorium would have approximately 1,230 seats and be ADA-accessible. The projected estimate is $68,297,000 – $72,973,000Click here for details.

The Board of Education will continue reviewing the options at its next regularly scheduled meeting on Oct. 17. In addition, the Board will begin discussing ways to gain community feedback about each option. Click here to listen to the full presentation at the Board meeting.”

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College Free Speech

Protesters shout before a 2017 speaking engagement by Ben Shapiro on the campus of the University of California Berkeley in Berkeley, California. New polling finds that America’s college campuses are seen as far friendlier to liberals than to conservatives when it comes free speech. Polling from the University of Chicago and the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research finds that 47% of adult Americans say liberals are free to express their views on college campuses, while 20% said the same of conservatives. (Associated Press)

By COLLIN BINKLEY, JOCELYN GECKER and EMILY SWANSON | Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Americans view college campuses as far friendlier to liberals than to conservatives when it comes to free speech, with adults across the political spectrum seeing less tolerance for those on the right, according to a new poll.

Overall, 47% of adults say liberals have “a lot” of freedom to express their views on college campuses, while just 20% said the same of conservatives, according to polling from the University of Chicago and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Republicans perceive a stronger bias on campuses against conservatives, but Democrats see a difference too — about 4 in 10 Democrats say liberals can speak their minds freely on campuses, while about 3 in 10 Democrats say conservatives can do so.

“If you’re a Republican or lean Republican, you’re unabashedly wrong, they shut you down,” said Rhonda Baker, 60, of Goldsboro, North Carolina, who voted for former President Donald Trump and has a son in college. “If they hold a rally, it’s: ‘The MAGA’s coming through.’ It’s: ‘The KKK is coming through.'”

Debates over First Amendment rights have occasionally flared on college campuses in recent years, with conflicts arising over guest speakers who express polarizing views, often from the political right.

Stanford University became a flashpoint this year when students shouted down a conservative judge who was invited to speak. More recently, a conservative Princeton University professor was drowned out while discussing free speech at Washington College, a small school in Maryland.

At the same time, Republican lawmakers in dozens of states have proposed bills aiming to limit public colleges from teaching topics considered divisive or liberal. Just 30% of Americans say states should be able to restrict what professors at state universities teach, the poll found, though support was higher among Republicans.

Overall, Republicans see a clear double standard on college campuses. Just 9% said conservatives can speak their minds, while 58% said liberals have that freedom, according to the polling. They were also slightly less likely than Americans overall to see campuses as respectful and inclusive places for conservatives.

Read more here.

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VBH Roads 2023

This Summer the entire length of Oak Knoll Road was resurfaced due to Trustee Laura Eckstrom’s objection to the appearance of a perfectly sound patching job (which ironically was performed to EXTEND the life of the roadway). It is worth reminding taxpayers Eckstrom happens to LIVE on Oak Knoll Road.

The Village Roads & Bridges Committee meets this afternoon for the first time in five months at 4 PM. The topics on the agenda are:

  • Road Program: 2023 Recap, and
  • Road Program: 2024 Planning

A copy of the agenda can be viewed here.

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state Rep. Dagmara Avelar

State Rep. Dagmara Avelar

Illinois health-care workers will now be required to undergo one hour of cultural training each year to continue working in their profession. Some say such training is not needed.

House Bill 2450 was sponsored by state Rep. Dagmara Avelar (D – Romeoville) and requires health care workers in the state to receive one hour of racial competency training as part of their continuing education.

State Rep. Bill Hauter, R-Morton, a former medical doctor, told The Center Square that racial competency is something those in the health-care profession take seriously and have for some time.

“We get cultural competency. We understand it. We take it in medical school. We do it in residency. We take classes on it in our continued medical education for our specialty boards,” Hauter said. “So it is not something that we do not understand, and we don’t think it’s important. It is just we do so much of it.”

State Rep. Brad Halbrook, R-Shelbyville, also pushed back on the requirement and questioned who would be providing the training to the workers.

Read how here.

Editorial note:
OMG

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Katie

Rep. Katie Stuart on the House floor at the Illinois State Capitol in Springfield in 2020.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker has signed a measure that allows multi-occupancy bathrooms in the Land of Lincoln to be genderless if a business or public institution chooses.

State Rep. Katie Stuart, D-Edwardsville, filed House Bill 1286. The new law allows for any multiple-occupancy restroom to be identified as an all-gender multiple-occupancy restroom and designated for use by any person of any gender.

The measure follows a 2019 bill signed by Pritzker that made all single-occupancy bathrooms in Illinois gender-neutral.

The measure has led to pushback from Republican lawmakers over it being implemented in schools.

State Rep. Kevin Schmidt, R-Millstadt, told The Center Square that parents should be the ones to make these decisions for their children.

“It’s not the role of the school to be having those discussions,” Schmidt said. “It’s the role of the parents to be having those discussions. They [schools] need to stay out of it. They need to teach math, English, reading, the core subjects that we are failing in Illinois, and stay away from discussions such as that with children.”

Previous reporting by Wirepoints showed that in 2022, 53 Illinois public schools had no students who could do math at their grade level and that an additional 30 schools had no students who could read at grade level.

The report uses data from the Illinois State Board of Education and found that 18% of the state’s 3,547 schools have only 1 out of 10 students who are capable of reading at grade level.

More here.

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Unisex Rest Rooms

Another 45 bills are now law in Illinois after Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced more legislation being signed Friday. One allows the creation of all gender, multiple-occupancy restrooms.

The governor separately announced the signing of two bills. One, House Bill 1378, creates the Illinois Graduate and Retain Our Workforce, or iGROW Tech Act, his office said establishes a new program to allow students majoring in technology fields to receive tuition grants. Another, Senate Bill 1462, expands hospitality opportunities in the gaming industry for formerly incarcerated individuals.

In a separate email announcement, Pritzker’s office said he signed another 30 House bills and 13 Senate bills.

Among those is House Bill 1286, which allows for the creation of all gender, multiple-occupancy restrooms if they meet certain requirements like having stall dividers and proper signage. The measure takes effect immediately and is optional, not a mandate.

Another, Senate Bill 1782, creates a private right of action for child influencers against their parents that feature them in videos and did not properly compensate them, the governor’s office said. That takes effect Jan. 1, 2024.

See the entire list as provided by the governor here

More here.

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