MENDOTA – The Mendota High School District 280 Board of Education reviewed the 2022 proposed tax levy and evaluated statistics from the school’s State Report Card at its Nov. 21 regular meeting.

The district is asking for a levy of $6,082,480 at a rate of $2.1963. Those figures are 10.97 percent higher than the 2021 tax levy. According to Superintendent Jeff Prusator, the tax rate is staying the same, but the district’s extension is going up by more than $500,000 mostly because the district is capturing all of its tax money that previously went into the TIF I fund, which has expired. Prusator added that he is estimating the levy will be $6,033,864 at a tax rate of $2.1998, a 10.08 percent increase from last year.

District 280 will hold a Truth in Taxation hearing at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 19. The hearing is required because the extension is more than 5 percent from the previous year.

In other items from the Superintendent’s Report, the board approved the health insurance renewal, which decreased by approximately 1 percent for the coming year. “We had the best renewal rate of any district that our broker represents,” stated Prusator.

Prusator said the FY22 audit went well, with all fund balances stable and the district in good financial shape.

The board unanimously approved an intergovernmental agreement with the city of Mendota for the new 2022 Mendota TIF District.

“I appreciate the cooperation of the mayor and city council in working with Mendota High School to come up with an agreement that works for MHS while at the same time enabling the city to create opportunities for economic, commercial and industrial growth,” stated Prusator.

 PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Principal Denise Aughenbaugh shared the 2022 Mendota High School Report Card issued each year by the State of Illinois. For the first time since 2019, the Illinois State Board of Education assigned the Annual Summative Designations to schools and districts. Mendota High School has been issued the rating of Commendable. There are for summative ratings: Exemplary, Commendable, Targeted and Comprehensive.

“The good news is that we are not required for any targeted assistance from the state or improvement requirements,” said Aughenbaugh.

Report Card summary: graduation rate-87%; student mobility-10%; FY22 Evidence-Based Funding-70% of adequacy; chronic absenteeism-22% (state avg. 29.8%); teacher retention-92%; average class size-18.8 (state avg. 20); enrollment-503; low income-38%; individualized education program-17%; student attendance-93.4%; 9^th grade on track-83.6% (state avg. 86.6%).

(Illinois State Scholars)

Aughenbaugh announced that eight seniors received Illinois State Scholar honors based on their SAT score and GPA. They are William Bentley, Melaina Bierwirth, Isabelle Escatel, Alexis Finley, Abigail Kunz, Neal Linden, Carlos Olivas and Avery Pierce.

(DAR, SAR)

The principal also informed the board that Escatel is the recipient of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) award and Kunz is the recipient of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) award.

Aughenbaugh thanked the Honors American Literature and U.S. History students for researching and providing a Veterans Day program, and also the MHS Band for playing at the city’s Veterans Day program on Nov. 11.

Upcoming events and dates are as follows: Dec. 10-11 Madrigal Dinner; Dec. 12 band concert; Dec. 14-16 final exams.

The next regular meeting of the District 280 Board will be Monday, Dec. 12 at 6 p.m.