Mendota High School board reviews tax rates, building projects

District taxes to drop again next year

Bonnie Morris
Posted 8/23/19

MENDOTA – Lower tax rates, summer projects and the start of the new school year were discussed at the Aug. 19 Mendota High School Board of Education meeting.

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Mendota High School board reviews tax rates, building projects

District taxes to drop again next year

Posted

MENDOTA – Lower tax rates, summer projects and the start of the new school year were discussed at the Aug. 19 Mendota High School Board of Education meeting.

Board president Jim Lauer gave a presentation showing how property taxes have decreased over the past two years. He said the prior year tax rate was $2.79, the current year is $2.43, and the estimate for next year is $2.27. This represents an 18.8 percent drop in the tax rate over that time (based on LaSalle County, other counties could vary). “We’re pretty proud of that,” Lauer said. “We thank the administration for their effort to keep that where it’s headed. It’s quite an accomplishment.”

Lauer noted that although there are various projects and improvements being done at the high school, the board has “held the line” on costs, paid off the building and almost paid off the athletic complex. “We’re proud of the fact we’ve seen these consecutive drops in our rate,” he said.

Superintendent Jeff Prusator said this drop in the tax rates comes even though the district plans to issue $1.5 million in working cash bonds. “This board should be commended. When the building bond was passed years ago, the understanding was when the building was paid off the tax payers would not keep paying that rate,” he explained. “We’re going to issue $1.5 million in working cash bonds to keep the facility looking nice but at the same time, our tax rate really is going down and property taxes did go down last year.”

Prusator said on a $100,000 house, the tax for Mendota High School went down $121.73 for the current year and next year it will go down again. “Some boards would keep the rate up but this board did the right thing,” he added. “In Mendota, the rate dropping the way it has, I’m not sure it can be matched for quite some time. Historically, this is the lowest tax rate since 1993, and that’s not counting next year, which will be almost 20 cents lower.”

BUILDING COMMITTEE

Building Committee chair Jim Sundberg gave a list of projects completed and/or started over the summer. This includes installation of the chiller, HVAC controls (improved efficiency), heat exchange wheels, exterior lighting improvements and new carpeting in the media center.

The tennis court resurfacing is still underway. Prusator said the project should have been completed by now but it was delayed due to all the rain earlier this summer.

Sundberg also listed projects planned for next summer: new roof ($1.2-$1.4 million), main gym floor ($30,000), back parking lot ($50,000), LED conversion in classrooms, and connecting the main building and vocational building (for safety purposes). He said numerous projects are also planned for the following year as well as possible maintenance equipment replacements.

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Principal Denise Aughenbaugh introduced several new faculty members. They include Kyle Amati, Band Director, who recently completed his Master’s at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee; Kaitlyn Rippentrop, PE teacher and freshman volleyball coach; Alisa Stewart, science teacher; and Officer Chad Hochstatter, School Resource Officer. “This is our first year to have a School Resource Officer and we appreciate the board’s support in this endeavor,” she said.

Registration

MHS used an online registration format and offered on-site registration as needed. Aughenbaugh said there was a great turnout for the Freshman and New Student Orientation afternoon/evening on Aug. 14. Students were able to have their yearbook and ID picture taken, receive schedules, locks and an MHS bag, attend an orientation session, and receive their Chromebook. Many teachers attended that night to welcome students and families.

As of Aug. 13, enrollment is at 548 students plus 21 eighth grade students who attend period 1 Honors Algebra l. “It’s not often I get to say this but we are almost perfectly balanced by gender with 288 females and 281 males,” Aughenbaugh commented.

Teacher Institute

The entire faculty returned on Aug. 14 for a faculty institute day, which included training on the new Remind App. Department chairs also met with administration on Aug. 15 to review curriculum and plan for the upcoming year.

Remind App

This year, MHS rolled out the new Remind App district-wide. Remind is a classroom communication tool that makes it easy for parents to stay involved with their student’s learning. Remind is free to use, and people are able to send messages on any device - even a simple text message from their phone. As part of the rollout, official accounts were created for all the educators, parents and students. On Aug. 16, families should have received an e-mail or text message from Remind. All they need to do is follow the steps in the message to finish setting up their account. There are demonstration videos e-mailed home to assist. Any family who did not receive a message from Remind should contact the high school.

Summer Bridges Program

Aughenbaugh said they were very proud of the 16 invited freshmen students who completed 30 hours of intensive math intervention work this summer. Every invited student attended and completed the lessons. Students were able to make-up missed time if they had to have an absence. Sylvan Learning taught the program utilizing their Ace It! Math tutoring curriculum. Students were administered a pretest on May 7, and these results placed them into ability groups. Three instructors were present to teach small groups of four to six students. A post-test was administered on the last day of class, Aug. 13. Growth results will be shared when they become available.

Students were able to earn gift cards, lunch-bucks, and T-shirts. Aughenbaugh said there were no behavior or discipline issues. “Students showed up and worked hard. We are looking forward to watching their success this school year.”

Additionally, MHS students retrieved or earned 91 credits during summer school along with students who earned driver’s education credit and dual-credit IVCC/MHS speech.

OTHER BUSINESS

  • MHS is discussing the possibility of cooping with LaMoille High School for baseball and softball in the spring. Prusator said the board may receive a proposal for approval at the September meeting.

PERSONNEL

The board accepted an intent to retire from Susan House after the 2021 school year. House has been a science teacher at MHS for the past 18 years.

They approved Terry Busard as the Science Department Chair and School Improvement Team member for the Science Department, Justin Jacobson as assistant boys soccer coach, and Jason Artman as Computer Coordinator.

The next regular board of education meeting will be held at 6 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 23 at the high school. The meeting will include a budget hearing.