Zach Mottl, chief alignment officer at Atlas Tool & Die Works in Lyons
Zach Mottl, chief alignment officer at Atlas Tool & Die Works in Lyons
The leader of the opposition to Hinsdale 86’s proposed $166 million referendum that the voters rejected in November says the Board of Education has resorted to scare tactics to keep hopes of a referendum alive.
“They are putting the children in the middle of this with threats of cuts in football and other after-school activities,” said Burr Ridge resident Zach Mottl, chairman of District 86 Can Do Better, which worked to defeat the referendum. “Along the way, they continue to misrepresent our position.”
In meetings since the Nov. 6 defeat of the referendum, board members have discussed cuts in some athletic programs and putting the referendum back on the ballot in April. Some are arguing for the same $166 million; others say a lesser amount stands a better chance with the voters. The board has until Jan. 14 to decide.
The board says it needs to borrow the money for repairs and upgrades to their two high schools, Central and South. In the wake of the November vote, it has agreed to some cuts as a way of finding money to partially fund the projects: four administrative positions have been eliminated and some non-union staff salaries have been frozen.
Mottl says that additional cuts, ones that will not affect athletics or other student activities, should be explored as well. They include freezing teacher salaries, cutting down on teachers’ planning periods and eliminating teacher stipends (which are pensionable) for helping with sports and other extracurricular activities.
In addition, Mottl says the board isn’t addressing why the referendum lost in the first place. The opposition wants students at South to have a curriculum and activities comparable to Central’s. They also want the district to make better use of available space and resources at South.
“This wasn’t just an anti-tax movement,” he said. “If they would agree to the parity in the schools and move more students to South we could agree to a referendum, not the $166 million but some smaller level.”
The referendum lost in November with 54 percent of the vote.
A $166 million referendum, with interest, would cost taxpayers nearly a quarter of a billion dollars to pay off.
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