Hononegah Pool - It's Time

12/17/2017

Well, this post isn’t about a new pool for our area - but, it’s certainly related to a pool and it’s certainly new! There’s now a middle school Swim Team for the Hononegah feeder middle schools!

It’s here! We’ve created a middle school swim team for kids in the 6th through 8th grades from Rockton, Roscoe and Shirland. It’s called the RRS Junior Indians. We’ll compete in the Rock River Athletic Conference. Informational Flyer Posted here. Practice starts January 9th. Very exciting- great opportunity for our kids! Please share.

01/09/2017

Greetings Hononegah Pool Supporters -

It's been a while since we've posted - there hasn't been a lot to share. We now have some information to share.

The Hononegah Board has been reviewing information in order to get a better understanding of the unsuccessful referendum this last November and to determine another possible referendum for this April's election.

There are three public meetings upcoming to help the Board in this endeavor. All meetings will begin at 5:30 and are being held in the Hononegah Library.

Meeting dates are:
Monday, January 9, 2017
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Tuesday, January 17, 2017

Please try to attend one or more of these meetings so that our voices can be heard.

10/31/2016

Pool Party People!

We are in the Home Stretch! Let's get this done and finish strong!

If you have not done so already, please consider making a donation to the referendum committee. They could use all the support they can get.

http://www.friendsofhononegah.org/donate

Also, there is one more Community Question and Answer Session scheduled for November 2nd at 6:00 PM in the Hononegah Library. Please show up to show your support or to have any of your questions answered.

Again, the Home Stretch is in sight... let's finish strong!

Friends of Hononegah Community High School is relying on private donations to organize and manage its campaign supporting passage of the referendum on November 8.

10/29/2016

I want to get FACTS out about the upcoming referendum.

Hononegah High School has a current tax base of 2.6083%. Since we are a high school only district, then we need to combine our tax rate with our feeder schools to give a comparison to other schools in our area.

Here are the current tax bases for schools in our area in order by percentage.

Harlem = 8.3864
North Boone = 8.3809
Durand = 8.2798
Rockford = 7.9379
Winnebago = 7.4277
Pecatonica = 7.4247
South Beloit = 7.1259

Hononegah + Prairie Hill = 7.1727
Hononegah + Shirland = 6.7497
Hononegah + Kinnikinnick = 6.6812
Hononegah + Rockton = 6.4960

As you can see we are below every school in our area with the exception of those living in the Prairie Hill district and they are only above South Beloit.

So - What will the impact of the referendum be? The referendum would increase our tax base by .477% which means we would be at a 3.0853%

Here is the tax bases if the referendum were to pass in the upcoming election.

Hononegah + Prairie Hill = 7.6197
Hononegah + Shirland = 7.2267
Hononegah + Kinnikinnick =7.1582
Hononegah + Rockton = 6.9730

Please share this with somebody that you feel needs the facts about the referendum and VOTE YES for students of Hononegah High School

10/20/2016

In case you're not registered to vote, please visit this link to get registered and to vote in this election!

https://ova.elections.il.gov

10/20/2016

Here is a letter to the editor that Scott Kitzman wrote and submitted to the Rockford Register Star.

http://www.rrstar.com/opinion/20161018/letter-vote-yes-for-expanding-horizons-at-hononegah?rssfeed=true

Today’s employment environment is extremely competitive. Likewise, getting admitted to a top college is equally as competitive. For example, my

09/29/2016

Here is some critical voter information that you might need to cast your vote in this election.

The last day to register to vote is October 11, 2016.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwaSU8c1UWnlTG95STdBQ01pQjg

09/23/2016

Here's a video of Swimming's greatest ambassador, Rowdy Gaines, giving a talk today at the USA Swimming Foundation Luncheon in Atlanta Georgia that Scott Kitzman attended.

The facts that Rowdy gives about kids not knowing how to swim are shocking - and another great reason to support the Hononegah Referendum in November.

09/20/2016

Here is a link to the data on the public forums that was handed out at last night's meeting.

As you can see, the swimming community did a great job making the pool a priority.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwaSU8c1UWnlNmNPOGFENTZTb2s/view?usp=sharing

09/20/2016

HCHS Building and Grounds Committee Meeting Update:

Last night's committee meeting was quite informative, eventful.... and long. It went from 7:30 until about 10:30pm.

The swim community had a lot of supporters in the audience. Scott Kitzman and John Carabelli spoke in support of an aquatics facility during the public comment section that started the meeting.

The architects then presented the attached document which shows some design options along with some rough guess budget numbers. Also, the tabulated data (which will get shared on another post) from the community forums was presented and discussed. Please note: Great job swim community in getting out to the forums. The pool scored very highly!

As you can see from the attached presentation, most of the options cost well more than the $44 million referendum. After a lengthy question and answer session, the committee chair surveyed each of the board members in attendance about their priorities.

Each board member included the pool in the list of their priorities, some had it as high as #3 behind a field house and classroom remodeling. I don't think it was lower than a #5 priority for any board member.

Now, it is way, way too soon to get overly excited. There is still a long, long way to go. The board will formerly vote on which projects are going to be built at their board meeting tomorrow night. Assuming a pool "makes the cut" (a swimming term most all of you should be familiar with) the November referendum still has to pass! Then, if the referendum passes, the construction bids need to come in at or under the budget. So, like I said, still a very, very long way to go.

But, we are looking better today than we were yesterday.

Stay tuned - Stay Involved - Stay Informed.

And most of all, thank you for your support and effort.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwaSU8c1UWnlVlQ0UUt2SElOV3c/view?usp=sharing

09/19/2016

Tonight's The Night!

Final Community Forum - 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM - Hononegah Library.

Building And Grounds Committee Meeting - 7:30 PM - Hononegah Library. At this meeting, DLA Architects are going to be unveiling some architectural plans for the board's consideration and final vote at their September 21, 2016 School Board Meeting.

It is imperative that the swimming community shows up to both of these events. The Building and Grounds Committee Meeting is an open public meeting. So, please attend so show our strength in numbers.

09/12/2016

Thank you Swim Community!

We just dropped off the petition to the Hononegah School Board! We wound up with 226 signatures complete with some excellent pro-pool arguments and comments.

Very, very impressive to say the least.

Still more work to be done! Get to the community forum tonight 6:00 PM at the Hononegah School Library!

The final forum is scheduled for Monday 9/19.

Please show up if at all possible.