Dakota Earns “Top 100 School Districts in Illinois” Designation

Dakota CUSD #201 was recently recognized as one of top 100 school districts in Illinois in the “NICHE 2017 Best School Districts in Illinois” rankings.  Dakota CUSD #201 was ranked 67^th.  NICHE is a website that helps families discover schools and communities that are a good match for them and their children. NICHE rigorously analyzes dozens of public data sets and millions of reviews to produce comprehensive rankings, report cards, and profiles for every K-12 school, college, and neighborhood in the U.S.  Dakota CUSD #201 is extremely proud of the commitment that staff, parents and the community make in supporting its students and are pleased to be ranked among the best school districts in Illinois.  Additional information on the NICHE rankings can be found at https://www.niche.com/k12/rankings/public-school-districts/best-overall/s/illinois/. 

After discussing the topic for over a year, the board adopted a resolution to place a referendum question on April 2017 election ballot. The total tax rate following a successful referendum will not increase due to the fact that the last payment for the 1999 building bond will have been paid.  Additionally, in conjunction with an increased Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) for the 2016 tax year, the total tax rate will actually decrease from the 2015 rate and remain level at that rate following a successful referendum.  The Dakota School Board believes that this is a unique opportunity to provide resources to support the future of the district in regard to the critical areas of facilities and programming.  It is also particularly important due to the state's lack of funding to public school over the past several years. 

The board approved the 2016 property tax levy at it's December 13 regularly scheduled meeting.  Due to the projected increase in 2016 Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) of 7.3%, the total tax rate for the district will likely decrease for 2016 property taxes to be paid in 2017.  At the same time, the projected higher EAV provides an increase in local tax revenues from 2015. At the December meeting, Mr. Prusator shared the projected rates and the amount of money expected to be received through the 2016 property tax process.  Unless there are significant changes to the district’s EAV, it is expected that the total tax rate will decrease by approximately 15 cents. 

The levy also sets the stage for a successful April 2017 referendum (impacting the 2017 property taxes) resulting in a total tax rate that is approximately 15 cents lower than the 2015 total tax rate. 

Mr. Rankin, principal, reviewed changes to the 2017-2018 high school course guide at the Dakota School Board's December meeting.  There are no major changes to the guide, except for making Highland College dual credit courses and online course through the Illinois Virtual School more accessible.  Additionally, there will be a greater emphasis on advertising and making know courses available through the CareerTEc program.  Those courses include career based certification programs that are typically taught at Highland College or Freeport. It is expected that these changes will be approved at the January meeting. 

Check out the Activities Calendar on this site.  This easy-to-use tool:

• provides up-to-date school activities and events
• allows you to view and print a daily, weekly or monthly list of calendar events
• includes a search option to find a specific event
• sends you e-mail reminders for events you select

Using the calendar is easy!

1. Click on the “Sign In now for FREE event reminders” and choose “Sign Up NOW” to complete the registration screen.
2. Select “Edit Reminder Preferences”

• Specify how many days in advance you want to receive reminders for specific events.
• Indicate if you also want weekly event reminders and choose the appropriate organizations and categories.  To select more than one, Ctrl/Left Click on each selection.
• Click the update button to complete the process.  This will take you to the “My Clipped Events” screen.

3. To clip specific events:

• Select “Browse the Calendar”
• Select the event(s)
• Select “Clip Selected Events” to update

Go to “my Clipped Events” at any time to change your preferences.  Click on the “update” button each time you make a change.

Using the search function:

To find a specific event, type the keyword (basketball, for example) in the Keyword Search and you will only see those events.  The Advanced Search allows you to choose from a list of specific organizations, categories, dates and locations.

Printing the calendar

Select the day, week, or month you want to print and then click on Print Month View.  Select File and then Print, or click on the printer icon on the toolbar.

If you click on Month at a Glance, you will see a traditional monthly calendar. To print, simply select File and then Print, or click on the printer icon on the toolbar.

Printing Different Calendar Views

You can create different calendar views by defining your criteria.  Click on Month at a Glance.  Choose the organization and category you want to view and click on GO.  You now have a new calendar view and can print it using the same steps outlined above.

That’s it.  You’re now ready to use the calendar – and you’ll never have to worry about missing another practice, parent teacher conference or band concert!

Did you know there is a way to make sure you are always in the know when it comes to special announcements, schedule changes, and school closings at your school?

How?  Sign up to receive News Update/s.

At the bottom of the front page of our web site, or on the left side of this page, enter your email address under "Sign up for News Update".

When you put in your e-mail address, you will receive a reply.  You must respond in order to be placed on our e-mail list.   Whenever there is a special announcement or update, an e-mail will be sent with the information.  

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