Suggestions on how to fill Woodland budget gap

A volunteer financial committee is recommending increasing class sizes, eliminating jobs and hiking student fees to fill a $3.5 million budget shortfall projected for the 2010-11 academic year at Woodland Elementary District 50 in Gurnee.

Public discussion by the Woodland board will occur before elected officials take final action on Feb. 25. Board members will solicit feedback at a community forum Jan. 19.

District 50 board President Lawrence Gregorash complimented the 65 or so volunteers from different backgrounds who worked on trying to solve the budget woes on the financial advisory community task force, which began work in September.

Woodland's financial picture could improve by roughly $4 million - more than the $3.5 million goal - under the combination of cuts and revenue enhancements recommended by the volunteer task force. The suggestions include:

•Creating slightly larger class sizes to pocket about $1.1 million annually. That means, for example, average class sizes for fourth- and fifth-graders would go from 24 to 27 children.

•Eliminating the positions of behavior intervention specialist, technology network administrator and operations and facility assistant in the 2010-11 school year, followed by not replacing the assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction and accountability position after the 2011-12 year. Total savings are expected to be $377,238 annually.

•Hiking student registration fees by $20 across the board to bring in an extra $120,800 yearly.

•Saving nearly $108,500 annually in energy costs. In part, the reduction would come by rebalancing and recalibrating District 50's energy management system and creating greater awareness among educators about use.

"This is a painful process we have to go through," said Gregorash.

Woodland board members will receive a formal report on the budget recommendations at a meeting Thursday, Dec. 17. Four public meetings will follow before the proposal goes to a formal vote Feb. 25.

Gregorash said the hope was the volunteers' knowledge from various professions or life experiences would lead to budget recommendations that may have eluded elected board members. He said the group delivered.

"The entire (elected) board will begin to review this," Gregorash said. "We'll take this holiday break to do extensive reviews."

Similar to other school systems, Woodland's income isn't expected to keep pace with expenses because of a flat consumer price index, or inflation rate. Since 1991, Illinois law has limited many taxing bodies to levy an increase at the rate or inflation or 5 percent, whichever is lower.