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Dear Community Member, Welcome to Minooka Community High School. As we begin each new school year, we do so with a record number of registered students. Our fall enrollment for 2007-08 is expected to exceed 2,200 students. We find ourselves in the second year of a split, overlapping schedule. Thankfully, overall community support of the March 2006 referendum lead to a solution to this challenge and inconvenience - the construction of the first phase of a second high school in District 111, which is slated to open in the fall of 2008. Watch our web site for construction pictures and progress reports. During these challenging times, the Board of Education continues to maintain its focus to provide a quality, comprehensive, educational program for all students, while working within available resources. We must always be 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. Fiscally, District 111 holds the distinction of maintaining a balanced budget in our operating funds. While countless school districts in Illinois are operating in deficit spending, District 111 is proud that, for the eighth consecutive year, it is operating in the black. Maintaining this distinction will be 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 a second facility in 2008 is addressed in 5-Year financial planning. Some of the accumulated fund balances will be spent down initially with the opening of the facility. Budgeting is predicted to stabilize within a few years of the school’s opening, and we remain on track to keep the Board’s promise to the community of operating the new school without asking taxpayers for an operating fund increase. As MCHS District 111 continues to face and address these challenges, we do so in an environment where State support for public education places Illinois near the bottom of the list in this great nation. These needed services 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. To assure that the tax burden is shared with non-residential taxpayers, District 111 aggressively defends tax challenges from industrial property owners. This necessary stance on the part of District 111 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. Our students continue to demonstrate a competitive edge 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. Remember that until every student is engaged in challenging his or her previous best, our work as educators, parents and community has ample opportunity for improvement. 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. Sincerely, David Middleton, Ph.D. Superintendent |
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