Mundelein High School looks to chop $1 million from next year's budget
Aiming to cut $1 million out of the budget for the next fiscal year, Mundelein High School officials plan to lay off teachers, reduce equipment purchases and make other cuts.
Seven teaching positions are among the 13 proposed staff cuts being considered. Spending also could be reduced on intramural sports, special education transportation, consulting services, instructional supplies and physical-education equipment.
Even the budgets for towels and staffing for extra curricular events would be cut, according to the plan now before the school board.
"We have to look at every single item to make reductions," board Vice President Vicky Kennedy said Wednesday.
Eighteen proposed cuts reviewed during Tuesday night's board meeting could save the district nearly $800,000 a year, Superintendent Jody Ware said. The layoffs alone could save the district $500,000 annually, she said.
The cuts were designed to have the least impact on students and programs, Kennedy said. They are not as severe as those at some other Lake County schools.
Hawthorn Elementary District 73 in Vernon Hills announced 23 layoffs last month. In March, Grayslake Elementary District 46 cut 29 jobs. Lake Zurich Unit District 95 is facing $4 million in program cuts for the 2009-10 school year.
"The financial circumstances of nearly every school district in the country is in terrible straits at this point," board member Robert Smith said. "Our state doesn't support its education programs."
Mundelein High's next fiscal year begins July 1. The board is expected to approve the budget for that year in September.
The budget for the current term calls for more than $31 million in spending. An estimate is not yet available for the 2010 fiscal year.
The school board operated with mounting, multimillion-dollar deficits for years until earlier this decade, when administrators and board members adopted a series of balanced budgets.
That prudent financial planning has helped the school endure the national financial crisis, Kennedy said.
"We have been extremely lucky because we have been balanced and we have toed the line on expenses," she said.
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