Cuts coming at Lake Zurich District Unit 95
Economic hardship will translate to cuts in Lake Zurich Unit District 95.
School board members tonight are expected to decide how much to trim from the 2009-10 budget, which is said to be in dire straights.
A budget reduction timeline will be considered by the board in a work session at 6 p.m. Thursday. The meeting is scheduled for the library at Lake Zurich High School, 300 Church St.
Superintendent Brian Knutson would not discuss specifics. But the buzz among parents is that the district is facing a $3.7 million shortfall next year.
"Basically our revenue is going to be flat," Knutson said. "You have to balance your budget."
Whether or how that will affect the number of teachers or the size of classes is unknown but the timeline apparently is tailored to meet certain notification requirements.
Nontenured staff would need to be notified of their release at least 45 days before the end of the school year. The time frame is 60 days for tenured staff. Any staff reductions are likely to occur in March.
Knutson will outline the deficit situation to the board, which then will determine a specific dollar amount to cut. Administrators will then make recommendations on what should go, a list that would be considered by the board next month.
"I'm not talking numbers of people (that may be cut) tonight," Knutson said. "The board gives us our charge of what we would reduce."
Basically, the problem has been revenue, mainly property tax, not meeting expenses.
Because it is limited by the tax cap, the district could levy only the amount of the consumer price index, which is 0.1 percent. Last year it was 4.1 percent, according to Knutson.
And because of foreclosures, the receipt of some taxes could be delayed, he added. Also, the most recent state payment was six months late.
"It becomes a cash flow issue," he said.
Reserve funds will only take the district so far.
"We have an 18 percent fund reserve," Knutson said. "That doesn't get you through two months of bills."