Salary freezes, hold on tech spending possible at Prairie Crossing
Employee salary freezes are on the table to relieve a financial bind at Prairie Crossing Charter School, just weeks after the Grayslake facility received state permission to operate another five years.
Prairie Crossing's latest financial problems stem from a Standard and Poors downgrade of the bank that sold bonds allowing the school to gain borrowed money. Officials said the drop in Wisconsin-based M&I Bank's rating - or financial confidence indicator - is expected to cost Prairie Crossing an extra $100,000 annually in interest.
Director Myron Dagley said the school board is to decide Tuesday, April 28 whether to freeze employee salaries, drop a planned purchase of new computers and pursue other avenues in an effort to save at least $100,000.
If personnel cuts were to occur instead of pay freezes, Dagley said, that would negate the school's low teacher-to-pupil ratio - a major selling point for Prairie Crossing.
"You can't keep the positions and ... increase the pay," Dagley said. "It is not arithmetically possible."
Prairie Crossing, which has an environmentally focused curriculum for 359 students, is one of 35 charter schools in Illinois. Open since 1999, the kindergarten-through-eighth-grade charter school remains the only one in Lake County and must follow rules set by the Illinois State Board of Education.
Along with the salary freezes for all 64 employees, the Prairie Crossing board will receive an administration recommendation to not purchase new computers or pay more toward employee medical and dental benefits for the 2009-10 academic year. If the benefit costs rise, Dagley said, the workers would have to cover the difference.
State education board officials voted to grant a five-year charter renewal to Prairie Crossing late last month. Larger, traditional public schools aren't required to seek state approval to stay open in five-year increments.
Dagley said the state doesn't allow charter schools to operate with a budget deficit, which is why a careful eye must be kept on Prairie Crossing's bottom line. This year's budget is about $3.7 million.
Children living within the boundaries of Fremont Elementary District 79 and Woodland Elementary District 50 may attend Prairie Crossing without additional cost if selected in a lottery from a waiting list. Prairie Crossing projected it would receive $3.1 million in state money for the Woodland and Fremont children during the 2008-09 academic year.
Small charter schools, such as Prairie Crossing, have been touted periodically by President Obama. Last month, he said the caps enacted by some states on how many are allowed don't help "our children, our economy or our country."