A referendum asks voter approval so that the Board of Education may borrow money to invest in large assets, such as buildings and equipment, and other essential items that cannot be paid for within an annual budget. Improvements almost always involve borrowing over a certain period of time (20-30 years).

If the referendum doesn’t pass, addressing critical maintenance/repair needs in all existing buildings will be required.  Due to the extent of these needs, the District would likely be required to increase taxes to make these investments. 

The District currently has strong financial responsibility and recognizes there is potential revenue from community development. This revenue will be taken into consideration for all planning. However, due to the scope of needed investments, the District will need to consider a long-range plan for financing since payment for any plan cannot happen at one time.  The remaining funds would continue to be utilized for ongoing building maintenance and updates at all District facilities and sites.

Additionally, the current District fund balance is primarily due to revenue from the Illinois Corporate Personal Property Replacement Tax (CPPRT).  This is a State of Illinois Department of Revenue-allocated fund which is distributed annually based on taxable income of corporations state-wide.  Due to a number of factors, the District was fortunate to receive excess funds in 2022 and 2023. However, the State has made clear that excess funds should not be expected in future years. For example, the District had an average annual revenue of $2.7 million from CPPRT between 2008 and 2021. In 2022, this revenue was an unexpected $7.9 million. Based on messaging from the State of Illinois, the District expects future revenue to be somewhat higher than the previous average but significantly lower than the 2022 allocation.

The District works hard to operate within the local revenues provided, including saving CPPRT funds for priority one-time operating expenses.  The Board of Education aims to manage and strategically expend these reserves thoughtfully into the future.

The District is committed to seeking a community-enhancing reuse of these sites.  

The proposed referendum includes closing two existing school buildings (Putnam County Elementary School, and Putnam County Junior High), with students and staff being relocated to additions/renovations to the existing Putnam County Primary School.  The Putnam County #535 student enrollment outlook remains steady, and the Board of Education remains committed to providing small class sizes.  Due to this, the proposed solution will serve the same number of students and will require the same quantity of teachers to do so.  This referendum is a significant opportunity to continue assessing the needs of our school community to ensure we are providing the highest level of education and the greatest service to each student.

The District has a very complicated bus system due to its rural setting with four schools. Some students experience long bus times and multiple transfers.  The proposed referendum solution will consolidate the District pick-up and drop-off locations to one campus, allowing for maximized route efficiency and eliminating excess bus transfers.  The average student’s daily bus ride time would reduce by an estimated 25 minutes. 

In addition, efficiency would be recognized by families, and caregivers, as all students, PreK-12^th Grade, would be located on one campus. This would eliminate the need for multiple stops and excess travel time between school buildings.

Upon a successful referendum, the District would immediately begin design and engineering for the proposed improvements.  As currently proposed, the design, construction, and relocation would tentatively be completed for the start of the 2026-2027 school year.

Student, staff, and visitor safety will be the highest priority during all of the potential construction projects. The potential additions and renovations at Putnam County Primary School would require special coordination to minimize the impact on the existing buildings while the additions are constructed. Renovation and construction that would detrimentally impact the learning environment would be prioritized for summer months.

Yes, the District has, and will continue to, seek state and federal grants, financial incentives, and community partners as a means of identifying alternative revenue for both the ongoing annual District budget, and specifically for this proposed project.  

The proposed referendum includes a new junior high baseball diamond. The current softball field at Putnam County High School can be used for both junior high and high school teams. In contrast, the current baseball field is sized only for high school, so a junior high sized field would be needed to continue the program.

As identified in the District’s facility study, investments are needed to improve infrastructure, safety, and education at all buildings within the District, including Putnam County High School (PCHS).  In Spring 2024, the District conducted a community-wide survey requesting feedback on how best to prioritize these needed investments.  This data was used to help develop the proposed referendum plan and for planning future investments.  Updates to PCHS, and the District campus remain a priority and the District will continue planning for making these updates at appropriate future dates. 

In developing the District’s facility master plan vision, the Board of Education considered multiple solution options.  These options included investing in all existing sites, addition/renovations, and building replacement solutions.  The District is committed to following the Strategic Plan’s guidance, which established the goals for ensuring the District has physical environments conducive to teaching and learning while maximizing the District’s operational efficiency.  These guiding principles, along with cost, capital, and community considerations led the Board of Education to vote to approve the proposed master plan. 

The District has partnered with Larson & Darby, an architectural and engineering firm who specializes in educational design within Illinois to asses existing conditions, develop conceptual plans, and to provide preliminary project budgets.

Methods of teaching and learning have changed substantially since most of the Putnam County school buildings were built. While our staff strives to make the most of the resources available and students do indeed achieve success in academics and activities, the configuration of many of our school spaces makes utilizing these current methods of instruction and collaboration a challenge.  The existing buildings lack contemporary classrooms, science labs, special education space, and collaboration environments.  In addition, the proposed plan aims to maximize our staffing and resource efficiency. 

The master facilities planning document was first commissioned by the Board of Education in 2019. This document was then reviewed with an architect and updated in December 2021 and again in November 2022. The costs for improvements have increased since those reviews due to the rising costs of construction. It is expected that any ongoing deferred maintenance projects would continue to increase in costs the longer the district waits to make these investments.

The District previously inquired into this concern. The District architect and Village of Granville confirmed that there would be no concerns with the additional water usage.

School districts are confined to spending referendum funds for improvements as defined within the referendum ballot language only. The funds cannot be spent on salaries, benefits, programming, or other initiatives.

The current design plan was developed with the vision of creating a single campus that would become the center for teaching and learning, competing and collaborating, and growing and succeeding within the county. The proposed architectural design solution has been conceptualized by the District’s Architect and will be refined based on stakeholder feedback from faculty, staff, and the community.

The $34 million was estimated by the District’s Architect based on the proposed conceptual design, industry standards, code requirements, and current construction costs. The District would exhaust all avenues to be as efficient as possible, aiming to get the greatest value for the investment.  The District is committed to a design that ensures exceptional learning opportunities and safety, and will make adjustments as necessary to meet those goals.

The District, and the design team, have recognized that with increased student population at one campus, the site will experience increased traffic.  The proposed design includes additional parking for staff and guests, improved vehicular circulation to separate parents and buses during drop-off and pick-up, and improvements for pedestrian access. The proposed design also provides additional parking accommodations for large events occurring on site (school musicals, youth sports tournaments, etc.). Nonetheless, further analysis of traffic patterns and parking will be done in collaboration with the Village of Granville. Appropriate changes will be made during the final design phase to ensure a safe and efficient traffic flow for drop-off and pick-up times. 

Currently, PC #535 contracts with the Village of Granville for an SRO who serves all four schools by rotating between buildings. With a single campus, the SRO would be able to serve all students, staff, and visitors at one location, ensuring a constant presence.