D161 Parent Secures Referendum Seeking Feedback On School Closings

MOKENA, IL — Summit Hill District 161 parents on Nov. 5 will have a chance to formally voice their opinion about how the school board handled the closing of two schools.

With a referendum petition request submitted Aug. 5, Mokena resident Patrick Oliphant asks voters their stance on the process behind the shuttering of Arbury Hills and Frankfort Square School, according to a press release from Will County Board Member Daniel Butler.

A week later, Kevin McCleish, husband of current Summit Hill 161 School Board member Stefanie McCleish, filed a legal objection to the referendum, challenging the "validity of several voter signatures on the petition," Butler said. On Aug. 23, Will County Officers Electoral Board overruled the objection, securing the referendum's place on the ballot.

The referendum will read:

Do you approve of the process by which the Board of Education for Summit Hill School District 161 closed Arbury Hills and Frankfort Square schools without a corresponding reduction in the property tax levy rate?

Yes/No

Kevin McCleish spoke with Patch on his reasoning for challenging the petition behind the referendum.

"When I saw what the referendum question was, it seemed to me that it was a compound question," McCleish said, "which is in itself problematic when you’re putting a question out there for people to vote."

Because it was proposed as an advisory as opposed to binding referendum, McCleish acknowledged it would be difficult to have the effort overruled entirely. He challenged more than 300 signatures on the petition, he said, for several reasons. Among them: the signees did not live within the district, disqualifying them; one person was believed to have signed for multiple people in a household; some signees were not registered voters. The Will County Clerk's Office sustained 224 of McCleish's objections to signatures. With those signatures stricken, 832 were determined still valid. To appear on the ballot, the measure required 740 valid signatures, and ultimately, the petition was upheld.

"I knew it would be a long shot to actually get the Will County Clerk to agree with all of my challenges and remove this, because it’s an advisory question," McCleish said. "If I see something that is problematic, I feel it's incumbent on me to follow through and ensure that the people who are calling for transparency, are held to the same standards."

McCleish said he respects the Will County Clerk's Office ruling.

"I respect the Will County Clerk’s decision," he told Patch. "I’m somebody who respects the democratic process."

The board's decision to close the two schools was hotly debated, with parents calling it rushed and not backed by data. Many in the community clamored for more transparency and due diligence before the vote in December 2023. Voting yes to the closings were board members Stefanie McCleish and Katie Campbell, along with president Jim Martin and vice president Joy Murphy. Voting no were Matt Carey, John Winter and Amy Berk. Carey later resigned, after an opportunity took him and his family out of the district boundaries.

Superintendent Dr. Paul McDermott has staunchly stood by the decision, stating that enrollment numbers dating back to 2009 and projected through 2029 show the district will lose an estimated 1,620 students.

"We do our homework, we back up our statements," McDermott told Patch in February. "We’re looking at massive enrollment declines that have been coming for years."

Oliphant said in February that he had found holes in the data and information the district cited as reasons for the closings, specifically enrollment projections and the cost of essential repairs to buildings.

"It’s not that we’re 100 percent against closing the schools, if that’s truly what’s best for the district and the taxpayers," Oliphant said in February.

Oliphant in February hinted that he would continue to fight on behalf of district parents. At the time, he had encountered a sense of defeat lingering in the area, remnants of communities scarred by the closing of Lincoln-Way North High School in 2016. Summit Hill District 161 takes in students from much of the same geographic area.

"Not a single person has answered and told me they agree with closing the schools," Oliphant said in February. "Not a single person. These people are scarred from 210, and the closing of Lincoln-Way North."

Many told Oliphant the parent group's efforts wouldn't make a difference.

"We choose not to accept that as fact," Oliphant said. "We choose to keep fighting on behalf of the public and taxpayers."

District officials said at the time of the vote to close that they would consider either selling the properties, or working with community partners to ensure they would not go unused. Arbury Hills has since been sold to the Prayer Center Of Orland, for $1.9 million.

Parents remain unsettled by the closings, left only to adjust as the new school year got underway.

"This is a great day for parents' rights in education," Butler said. "This school board has continuously disregarded the parents of children in Summit Hill School District….”