Northbrook Trustees Decline Comment on D. 31 Referendum

With in less than three weeks away, supporters of the $1.8 million tax increase begged Northbrook’s board of trustees to help their effort. 

“Your neighbors are living in a blighted district,” parent Harvind Singh told the board during its regular meeting Tuesday night. “I’m here asking you today to help the residents in Northbrook find a solution if the referendum should fail.” 

After a $2.23 million property tax referendum  last year, the district . Administrators say another $1 million in cuts could be necessary over the next two years if a second referendum does not pass in March.  

Singh suggested that consolidating the 870 students in district 31 with another school district could be a solution, and asked trustees whether that was an issue they could address. In order to consolidate school districts, both school boards would have to vote to put the issue before the community in a referendum. If both referendums passed, the tax rate would go up to whichever was the higher of the two—meaning an automatic increase for District 31, which has the lowest tax rate of any school district in Northbrook or Glenview. 

“Our class sizes have already increased,” said Singh, whose first-grader is one of 25 in her class. “We need to encourage the entire community to look deep in their hearts and consider consolidation.” 

President Sandra Frum told Singh that legally, the village board of trustees has no official role in school consolidation, and that as president, she could not bring forward any action related to the matter. Trustee Robert Israel then proposed that the village board pass a motion to “support the residents of District 31 to pass a referendum in support of their school services.” 

While president Frum and trustee Todd Heller both said they supported Singh and other residents in their effort to increase property taxes, other trustees said they didn’t feel prepared to vote on the matter that day, and that it wasn’t proper to take action on the matter of another board.

“I don’t feel I have enough information,” said Trustee Kathryn Ciesla. “I don’t feel it’s appropriate for this board to tell another board what to do.” 

She said she was also concerned that if the board’s motion did not pass simply because some members felt it was inappropriate—and not because they opposed passage of the referendum—it could be misinterpreted and could cause a backlash the board did not intend. 

Both trustees Heller and Israel said that the motion was not intended as a commentary on another board, but as an action in support of the referendum’s passage.

Citing his concerns over the appropriateness of taking a stand, trustee James Karagianis moved to table the motion, a vote that is taken without discussion. 

“There isn’t a single person up here—and I think I speak for everybody—that doesn’t value education, doesn’t value the school systems here,” he said. “But to put us on the spot like this, to cross the boundary and say, this elected body is doing something right or is doing something wrong, I’m just not comfortable with.” 

Trustees voted 4-3 to table the motion in support of the referendum’s passage. 

District 31 parent Blair Klein, whose two first-graders attend , said she was disappointed in the vote.

“There is a sense of urgency on this that doesn’t allow for tabling,” she told trustees. “We are failing our bright children.”