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| District 205 Proposes $110 Million in Improvements |
The top money man in the Galesburg School District says he can create 275 jobs over the next ten years, keep property taxes from going up, increase property values, and improve student achievement -- all by spending $110-million.
Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Guy Cahill presented the work of the district's 20-year Master Facilities Planning Committee to the District-205 board Monday night, in the form of a series of documents that are a part of what he calls "Operation Re-Build -- Achievement."
Cahill says 300 district students in 8th grade or younger are, in his words, inadequately housed because most of the district's buildings are just too old.
"The average age of our buildings district-wide is 47-plus years. The functional life of a typical building is about 40 years," Cahill said. "Two of our buildings predate World War II and a third predates World War I. Silas as you know is 98 physical years old but it has a functional age of 147 years."
So Cahill's proposal includes essentially $10-million of proposed improvements every year for the next 10 years -- paid for through either bonds, state or federal grants, a proposed 1 percent sales tax increase for Knox County School Districts, or other means, without raising property taxes.
He's looking at replacing heating systems, sound-proofing, removing asbestos, improved athletic facilities, floor, roof, and plumbing repairs, and other things.
The Galesburg School Board will take a final vote on the plan next month.
For more on the work of the Master Facilities Planning Committee, CLICK HERE.
To listen to or download Cahill's full presentation Monday night, CLICK HERE.
(Guy Cahill, District 205 Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, uses buckets to describes the types of funding that are used for normal school operations, and for construction projects, as a way of explaining how $110 Million in proposed improvements could be made over 10 years. WGIL News Story and Photo by Will Stevenson.) |
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| 05 10 10 by Newsroom |
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