Kaneland school board OKs budget with deficit spending

The Kaneland school board adopted its 2009-10 budget this week, and it calls for spending about $760,000 more to run schools than it expects to take in.

However, it won't have to file a deficit reduction plan with the state board of education because the deficit equals less than one-third of what it expects to have in actual money in those funds at the end of the budget year June 30, 2010.

"I'm not happy that things are going to be as financially strapped as they are going to be," board member Cheryl Krauspe said of the deficit spending. But she believes the district's recently updated strategic plan will help the board and administration set spending priorities.

The operating funds portion of the budget, which pays for expenses such as salaries, maintenance, supplies and busing, calls for income of $46.47 million and expenses of $47.23 million.

One of those operating funds, the education fund, which pays for salaries and benefits, increased its budget $1.45 million over last year's budget, including $1.2 million for pay increases for teachers as a result of a contract approved last fall.

The district will not buy any new school buses this year. It will instead compare costs of buying buses vs. leasing buses to see if it can save money, Krauspe said.

The total budget, including construction and legal costs and loan repayments, calls for $67.47 million in revenue and $88.53 million in expenses. However, the expenses include $29.6 million in capital projects, and the district is carrying forward $20 million in income from its previous fiscal year to help pay for that. The district is wrapping up a building campaign that included expanding Kaneland High School and Blackberry Creek Elementary School, and building Harter Middle School, which opened in August.

The budget covers the fiscal year that began July 1 and ends July 30, 2010. The state gives school districts until the end of September to approve their budgets.