St. Charles D303 starts weighing a smaller referendum or safety bonds after Nov. 3 loss

St. Charles School District 303 has started sorting out what comes after the Nov. 3 vote, and the first public conversation is set for Thursday, Nov. 19.

At the school board's Monday, Nov. 9 meeting, Superintendent Paul Gordon laid out the options the board has left now that voters turned down the district's $282.5 million building bond request. The district can keep putting about $5 million a year into its buildings, as it has promised. It can look at health-life-safety bonds. Or it can try a scaled-back referendum. Gordon told the board it would not make sense to put the same question on the ballot again.

No decisions were made Monday. Gordon said the topic goes to the board's Business Services Committee on Nov. 19 to start the discussion, and that the committee would not decide anything that night either.

The April deadline is Jan. 19

The next election where a referendum could appear is the consolidated election on April 6, 2027. Gordon said the board would have to decide by Jan. 19 to make that ballot. Other dates fall in 2028.

Gordon said the district's building needs have not gone away with the vote. He also thanked residents for the high turnout.

The plan voters rejected would have paid for a $312.5 million package of repairs, accessibility work and classroom additions across all District 303 schools, with $30 million of the district's own money covering the rest, according to the district's referendum page. Our election story has the results and the full project list.

Board members add fund balance and a sort by safety

One board member asked that the district's fund balance, its savings, be on the table as another source of money. Gordon agreed and said it would be part of the Nov. 19 discussion.

Another member asked staff to go back through the project list and mark which items are maintenance work that might qualify as health-life-safety projects, to help the board decide what comes first. Gordon said he would bring that.

Two residents spoke during public comment. Both urged the board to respect the result. One said the plan mixed too many wants in with needs and suggested phasing projects and setting aside money each year for roofs and boilers.

Tentative tax levy up about 4%

The board also voted 6-0, with member Kate Bell absent, to approve its estimate of the 2026 tax levy, the property taxes residents pay in 2027. Property taxes provide more than 80% of the district's revenue, according to the staff memo.

The resolution estimates the levy for operating funds at $213.16 million, up from the $204.82 million extended last year, an increase of about 4.1%. The debt payment levy would drop slightly, to $3.29 million. The total comes to $216.45 million.

State tax caps limit how much a district's levy can grow on existing property. New construction is outside the cap, and the district has estimated $65 million in new property to make sure all of it gets taxed, interim Chief School Business Official Michael Zelek wrote in the memo. The county will adjust the final number once new property values are known next spring.

The memo says the increase is under the 105% threshold that requires a hearing. The resolution still schedules one: a public hearing on the levy is set for Dec. 14 at 6 p.m. at the District 303 Professional Learning Center at Lincoln School, 211 S. Sixth Ave. The board plans to adopt the levy the same night.

Dates to watch

• Nov. 16: Learning Services Committee, 5:30 p.m.
• Nov. 19: Business Services Committee starts the discussion of next steps on facilities.
• Dec. 14: levy hearing and final levy vote, 6 p.m., Lincoln School.
• Jan. 19: last day for the board to put a question on the April 6 ballot, according to Gordon.

Board meetings are open to the public and streamed on the district's YouTube channel, D303 Live.