Frequently Asked Questions

Despite our buildings being well maintained, the Crete-Monee School District 201-U has urgent facility needs that must be addressed now. Our facilities range in age, with the oldest school built in 1928 and its newest in 2007. Despite efforts to maintain these facilities over the years, the buildings have outlived their useful lives. The oldest schools have become extremely difficult and expensive to maintain and are energy inefficient.

While our schools remain safe, they regularly experience flooding, mold, and extremes in temperature—from cold in the winter to extreme heat in the fall and spring. They also have old plumbing that has restricted our students' ability to drink the water. Only two buildings have air conditioning.

Moreover, our buildings are exceedingly inefficient, with our oldest having single-pane windows, original boilers, and old and outdated lighting fixtures.

Although our school buildings have served generations of students, a modern curriculum and methods of teaching and learning now rely on the extensive use of technology, large and small classroom spaces, and different classroom configurations.

An approved referendum would provide the district with $65.25 million toward the building of a new elementary school in Crete and a new elementary school University Park. The district would also use funds to maintain, repair, and equip our existing facilities with air conditioning and better water pipes, including at Monee and Talala Elementary Schools, our high school, our middle school, our Early Learning Center, and Monee Educational Center.

The Board of Education is considering two different options that, if implemented, would address the district’s urgent facility needs at different levels. Both options would allow the district to have safe and efficient facilities, while investing in a maintenance and replacement process to protect the district's assets and taxpayers' investment in future years.

In addition to the items outlined above, the second option creates learning spaces that result in equality across the district. It allows the district to offer robust options to meet the goals outlined in the Future Forward strategic plan.

Option #1

If this option were selected by the board and passed as part of a referendum by voters, it would:

• Build a new elementary school on the site of the abandoned Sixth Grade Center and Dome, combining students from Crete Elementary School and Balmoral Elementary School. Afterward, both Balmoral and Crete Elementary Schools would be demolished.

• Add additional classrooms at the middle school.

• Build a new Coretta Scott King School in University Park at a site to be determined.

• Address the district's most urgent life safety projects not addressed by the new schools.

• Add air conditioning to the buildings that do not currently have it.

This option would cost approximately $99,950,600. The district would increase efficiencies by having one fewer building.

Option #2

If this option were selected by the board and passed as part of a referendum by voters, it would:

• Construct a curricular pathways addition to the high school, creating more scholastic options for students in alignment with the district’s strategic plan.

• Move the scholastic and extracurricular activities of Monee Education Center (MEC) to the new curricular pathways addition at the high school. Afterward, MEC would be sold or demolished.

• Create career pathways that are consistent with the district’s strategic plan.

• Build a new elementary school on the site of the abandoned Sixth Grade Center and Dome, combining students from Crete Elementary School and Balmoral Elementary School. Afterward, both Crete and Balmoral Elementary Schools would be demolished.

• Add additional classrooms at the middle school.

• Build a new Coretta Scott King School in University Park at a site to be determined.

• Address the district's most urgent life safety projects not addressed by the new schools.

• Add air conditioning to the buildings that do not currently have it.

This option would cost approximately $116,722,600. The district would increase efficiencies by having two fewer buildings.

It is the opinion of the board that any referendum project it would place on the ballot would include a 30-year payback period, as opposed to the current 20-year payback period. This would require a change in state law. We have been working with our locally elected state legislators to support this change.

Over the years, the board and district administrators have examined the question of whether it makes sense to renovate existing buildings or to rebuild. There are two issues to consider. First, our buildings are extremely old, which means many have single-pane glass, very inefficient boilers, and no air conditioning. They tend to be extremely energy inefficient and very expensive to maintain.

On the other hand, because our schools were designed for the needs of students generations ago, some of our current schools do not allow us to offer the kinds of classes and training necessary to achieve the goals we have embraced in our strategic plan.

The simple answer is that we have worked hard to maintain our facilities and extend the useful lives of our buildings. However, the cost to replace our buildings is less expensive, over the long run, than simply repairing and renovating our current educational spaces.

The district must address its facilities challenges soon. The district continues to address these issues on a near-daily basis, which means more money is being wasted.

Due to the costs involved in addressing these challenges, the district would need to seek approval from voters through a referendum before it could move forward. Although the details of a potential solution are yet to be determined, the board has tentatively agreed to place a measure on the ballot for April 2021.

The school district convened a facility committee to review all facility needs in our buildings in order to prioritize those that required the most attention or repair. Through this process, the committee determined that Crete, Balmoral, and Coretta Scott King had the most significant needs.

The district is primarily focused on repairing our buildings that have the most significant needs. Any discussions about curriculum program offerings rest outside the issue of addressing our facility needs. Coretta Scott King was one of the buildings the facility committee determined needed significant attention. Any changes to our district-wide programming would be subject to the creation of a new strategic plan once our current plan has been executed.

Due to the restructuring of existing debt and the fact that debt is expected to be paid off by the district soon, the district does not expect the debt service portion of property taxes to increase as a result of an approved referendum April 6.

The Board of Education is carefully monitoring the economic situation facing our country and our district community due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, as stewards of the district’s assets, board members feel strongly that we must move now to address the crowding challenges that have been identified in our schools.

If community members in the Crete-Monee School District 201-U were to pass a referendum, district leaders could work with the board to restructure some debt and pay off some older debt in a way that would allow taxpayers to not see an increase in their property tax rates for the debt portion of the school bill.

The following is the exact wording of the referendum question as it will appear on the ballot April 6:

Shall the Board of Education of Crete-Monee Community Unit School District Number 201 U, Will County, Illinois, build and equip a new elementary school building in Crete, build and equip a new elementary school building in University Park and issue bonds of said School District to the amount of $65,250,000 for the purpose of paying the costs thereof?

CM201-U residents can cast their ballots at their usual polling location. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many residents are expected to vote by mail. For more information on requesting an mail-in ballot, visit https://elections.il.gov/electionoperations/votingbymail.aspx.