Barrington Dist. 220 candidates debate budget fixes

The five candidates running for three open seats on the Barrington Unit District 220 school board each acknowledge the district can't continue deficit spending.

But how to best close the spending gap, which is projected to shrink reserves from about $40 million to $16 million by 2016, yields very different proposals.

Brian Battle, a board member since 2003 and the only incumbent in the race, said he supports turning to administrators to identify cuts that least affect educational programs — an approach taken this school year.

The board is now contemplating eliminating elementary intramural programs due to low attendance, and reducing the number of activities stipends.

Battle lauded the district for being more aggressive in negotiating vendor contracts, and cited the importance of preserving its legislative influence in Springfield.

“I believe this plan is still the right focus for the cuts,” said Battle, adding the board is waiting to hear back from the teachers association about possibly making concessions in the current contract.

Challenger Joseph Ruffolo, a teacher in Leyden Township High School District 212, said he agrees with Battle that it's best to depend on budget cut recommendations from administrators who see the day-to-day operations.

And while Ruffolo believes it can't hurt to ask the teachers union to consider reopening the contract, he cautioned that the contract has to be lucrative enough to continue attracting top educators. If it isn't, District 220 could risk becoming a “revolving door” of talent who leave for greener pastures.

“I'd rather reduce teachers from staff as opposed to make the contract less attractive,” said Ruffolo, a father of three District 220 students. “It's the quality of teacher we attract and quality of teacher we can keep I care about.”

But Richard Burkhart, a retired executive from Oracle Corp., said the “pool of educators is deep and wide” and that the district won't have to worry about attracting teachers with a less lucrative contract.

In addition to reopening the contract, he proposes using noncertified staff to supervise bus loading at $12 per hour, as well as implementing heath savings accounts to cut health care costs.

Burkhart also said teacher contract increases should be linked to the Consumer Price Index for not just salaries, but also the step compensation.

“There are areas we believe you can look at from a longer-term perspective,” Burkhart said.

Running with Burkhart as a slate are construction manager and real estate attorney Tom Antoine and write-in candidate Jim Mayer.

Antoine said program cuts in the face of a higher tax levy, declining enrollment and a higher student-to-teacher ratio, are all compensation for District 220's contractual obligation to teachers.

He said the board needs to look at the budget line by line starting with biggest items, and suggested the new Chinese-language immersion program as a possible cut.

Antoine, whose wife is a teacher, said salaries and benefits should be competitive but agreed with Burkhart that the district can take a harder line without worrying about losing educators because “teaching in District 220 is a real joy.”

Mayer, a commodities trader, said he's plugged into world events and believes we've only begun to see the effects of an “unwinding global credit bubble.”

The former teacher said he can bring a valuable perspective to more fiscally conservative long-term planning.