District 200 to Ask Residents: So What Do You Want, Then?

Still recovering from the April voting down of the proposed tax increase that would have funded a $17.6 million Jefferson Early Childhood Center, Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 staff are planning a series of open meetings with residents to try to identify projects that the community will indeed support, the Daily Herald reports.

"We did a community survey [that] told us that a Jefferson referendum had a good chance of passing," board President Barbara Intihar told the paper. "Obviously that survey did not go far enough into garnering what our community really feels… Either that or they understood there was a problem that needed to be solved but they didn't like the solution. 

"Everything you do costs money so we're trying to assess 'What do you want? and 'Are you willing to pay for it?' and get a feeling from the community about what their expectations are for us." 

According to the paper, the District says it has identified $10 million in urgent improvements, mostly at Jefferson, which officials say is badly outdated, with many areas not handicap-accessible and some students receiving therapy in converted closets and at the end of hallways. (Superintendent Brian Harris told the paper it is “the most needy school in the District.”) 

Read the full story at the Daily Herald website.