District 47 works to tighten belt
When an injection of federal stimulus money allowed the state to boost funding to schools, Crystal Lake Elementary District 47, like most other school districts, got a nice raise.
But the additional revenue from the state, about $442,000 more than the district originally expected, wasn't enough to erase a $2.1 million deficit - the first the district has budgeted in several years.
With the additional state funding, the projected deficit for this year is down to about $1.7 million, District 47 Chief Financial Officer Susan Shepard said. The deficit is the product of reductions in state grants for early childhood, literacy and bilingual programs as well as the district's declining enrollment, Shepard said.
By unanimous vote, the District 47 school board passed the deficit budget on Tuesday, according to the district.
District leaders trimmed this year's budget by about $2 million, Shepard said, deferring $1 million in building maintenance and saving $1 million by restructuring debt.
But those measures are only short-term solutions. Administrators plan to present a deficit-reduction plan to the board in February.
"You can postpone some of those projects for the short term, but obviously that's going to catch up with you," Shepard said. "Instead of just hacking ... we've got time to look at our current expenditures and do it in a way that's least impactful."
While district leaders have not yet begun to discuss possible reductions, board President Dave Hubbard has said the board will try to avoid cutting areas that have a direct impact on classroom instruction.
Overall, District 47 plans to take in about $84.3 million this year and spend about $86.1 million, about 4 percent more than the district spent last year. The new spending includes increases to teacher salaries and benefits as well as additional special education outlays, the product of a growing number of special-needs students in the district, Shepard said.
The district expects to receive about $1 million in federal stimulus funds for special education and low-income students but is required to spend much of that sum on one-time purchases or initiatives instead of on recurring costs, Shepard said.