Unit 4 Roundup

First off, there have been recent updates on the Champaign recently passed school district tax levy. The News-Gazette outlined the proposed levy a couple weeks back:

Champaign school district seeking an $8.4 million tax boost
The Champaign school district wants to levy for an $8.4 million boost in property taxes next year but is projecting the increase would have a minimal impact on the tax rate paid by property owners.

The bulk of the proposed levy increase would be in corporate and special purpose property taxes tied to operation of the school district, while just a sliver of it would be tied to paying down the debt for the school construction projects approved in a 2016 referendum, according to Tom Lockman, Unit 4's chief financial and legal officer...

What the school district asks for in its tax levy isn't necessarily what it will receive. The amount will be set in the spring based on several factors other than what was requested — among them the total assessed value of taxable properties in the district and the consumer price index...

The overall levy increase is expected to have a minimal impact on the tax rate because it would be spread out over a larger assessed value of the district, though final figures won't be known until next spring, Lockman said...

In all, the requested levy would be 7.5 percent higher, from $111,364,397 on 2017 taxes paid this year to $119,775,662 on 2018 taxes payable next year.

Full article here. The tax levy ordinance passed was similar with an overview of the numbers here at the last board meeting on December 10th.


Candidate filings have begun. From the News-Gazette earlier this week:

Kathy Richards has decided not to run for re-election, but the three other incumbents — President Chris Kloeppel, VP Amy Armstrong and Secretary Kathy Shannon — all filed on opening day.

Also filing were four newcomers: Jennifer Enoch, Michael Foellmer, Lee McDonald and Elizabeth Sotiropoulos.

Links added for candidates with information on their candidacy or campaigns. Full blurb here.


In other news, Unit 4 also hired a communications chief:

Champaign school board approves 40-year PR vet as communications head
A 40-year veteran of public relations is slated to begin working for Unit 4 next Monday, "shoring up" a communications department flooded with responsibilities related to the district's 2016 referendum, board President Chris Kloeppel said.

John Lyday received the board's approval for the chief communications officer position early Monday evening. The position's approved annual salary is $119,893...

Lyday's position was supposed to be occupied by former Unit 4 communications staffer Stephanie Stuart, who received board approval April 23 but decided not to accept it. Kloeppel described the position as one much-needed because of the increased level of communications work generated by the referendum projects and an answer to public input.

Full article here.


And finally, following up on the averted teacher's strike, the News-Gazette had a very long and detailed article about the major sticking point of the negotiations: class sizes:

Class-size caps were a sticking point in Unit 4 contract talks
...
Until now, Champaign’s contract didn’t stipulate class size.

“It’s something we tried to bargain the last time” in 2016, said union president Jen White, who’s been involved in the last four contract talks. “The district was a hard ‘no’ at that time. We ended up dropping the language. This time, we stuck with it.”

While no one wanted a strike, White said the nearly 900 teachers and support staff including school psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists and librarians in the union were prepared to walk off the job if the two sides couldn’t reach a compromise on the matter.

“Class size was our single, most unifying topic,” said White, a seventh-grade science teacher at Jefferson Middle School and a mother of a sophomore at Centennial High. “It was incredibly moving to hear our elementary school teachers speak about how appreciative they were. Our middle school and high school teachers were all in. It impacts all of us — from elementary school all the way up.”

Full article here with class size data and a great deal of additional information about various class sizes in the district. It also looks at weighing the benefits of class size limits versus other considerations.