Dear Community Member,
Welcome to Minooka Community High School and the 2009-2010 school year. I am pleased to share with you the information below as a way for you to learn more about the various components of our school district.
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As we begin the new school year, we do so with a record number of registered students. Though residential development has slowed in our communities, we continue to grow in student enrollment. Our fall enrollment for 2009-10 exceeds 2,400 students. Please click on the graph to the right for a recent history of our district's growing enrollment.
Last year we opened the new south campus. The new campus provides sufficient classrooms for a growing population until 2014 or beyond. This is possible because of community support for the March 2006 referendum and the construction of the first phase of a second high school in District 111.
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A revised enrollment projection is expected to be completed mid-year. This will assist long-range planning for District 111 as we work with the economic conditions that have impacted growth in the area.
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We remain mindful that while growth in numbers is our challenge, the academic growth of our students and their development as productive future citizens must be our mission and passion. With that mission in mind, the Board of Education continues to maintain its focus to provide a quality, comprehensive, educational program for all students, while working within available resources.
Like all good schools, we constantly strive to help more students achieve at higher levels. To put these words into action, District 111 implemented two programs to assist struggling students. Double-blocked Algebra I and Read 180 will continue for 2009-10. We continue to study data from these courses to identify both successes as well as opportunities for improvement.
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Overall, our students continue to do well in their academic achievement while we, as a staff, continue to find ways to help more students achieve at higher levels. Test results provide an overall snapshot of the accumulated experience of the students (click on the graph to the right for ACT scores of MCHS students compared to their peers across Illinois). Behind any single number that represents the average performance of a school district are phenomenal successes as well as challenges and struggles on the part of the students. Remember that until every student is engaged in challenging his or her previous best, our work as educators, parents, and community members has ample opportunity for improvement.
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In addition to our primary goal of academic learning, there are the other important components of a sound, well-rounded education that help to produce productive and caring citizens. The life lessons learned through teamwork, service to others, tolerance and understanding, an appreciation for the arts, and the other lessons and memories from the formative teen years are experienced through our programs, activities and athletics. High school is the last opportunity for a community and nation to gather our youth and send them off to follow the paths they choose, and do so in a manner that will support our way of life and hopes for our future. Pictured to the right are members of the Spanish National Honor Society preparing to deliver food collected as part of a Thanksgiving drive to benefit We Care of Grundy County. I sincerely encourage you to continue to follow the contributions and accomplishments of our students in the local media and in our monthly “Connections” newsletter.
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Fiscally, District 111 holds the distinction of maintaining a balanced budget in our operating funds, and has maintained fund balances necessary to sustain programs for students as we face the uncertainty of a struggling economy. We remain mindful that during times of uncertainty, communities rely on schools for support, stability, and programs for our children. While countless school districts in Illinois are operating in deficit spending and cutting services to students, District 111 is proud that for the tenth consecutive year, our operating funds are projected to finish the 2009-10 school year with revenue meeting or exceeding spending (click on the graph to the right for a breakdown of revenues and expenditures for this school year).
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Maintaining this distinction has become a greater challenge for District 111 as enrollment increases, bringing with it the need for additional teachers and services that are not coupled with State funding at a commensurate level. The challenge of opening and operating our second facility, doubling our operating needs for facilities, has been successful thus far. Our tax rate has consistently fallen below the .0234 tax rate predicted and promised by the board during the conversations with the community during the successful referendum in 2006 (click on the graph to the right for details).
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As MCHS District 111 continues to face and address these challenges, we once again, sadly, must report that we do so in an environment where State support for public education places Illinois near the bottom of the list in this great nation. The needed services of quality schools will rely on local property taxes. It requires an incredible commitment at the local level to continue to do what is best for our students, and to do it effectively (click on the graph to the right for a breakdown of the district's revenue sources). To assure that the tax burden is shared with non-residential taxpayers, District 111 initiated and engaged in a coalition of other government entities that provide services to aggressively defend tax challenges from industrial property owners.
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This necessary stance on the part of District 111 and its service agency partners is sometimes painted as “unfriendly to business” - which is in no way the philosophy of District 111. Until the overall funding mechanism for public education in Illinois is reformed, we have no choice but to acquire needed revenue from industrial property owners through fair assessment of this property. Without such a stance, the property tax burden will continue to tip in the direction of homeowners.
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MCHS will continue to serve youth and community through a strong partnership with caring parents, good children, solid civic organizations, concerned neighbors, strong leadership, and a dedicated and talented staff. By working with the MCHS community, we will build upon our strengths, successes, and traditions as we face the challenges of the future.
On behalf of Minooka Community High School District 111, we look forward to another year of working together to provide what is best for our students and community. We urge you to join us and to get involved in helping set a course for the future that will bring to realization the vision we hold for the education of the children in the greater community.
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Sincerely,
David Middleton, Ph.D.
Superintendent
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