Indian Prairie facing major budget cuts

Indian Prairie Unit District 204 already has chopped $9.2 million from next year's budget, but uncertainties about when and if state funding will arrive could force it to cut even deeper.

District officials said Wednesday they believe the state's $13 billion debt will force the legislature to reduce payments to individual school districts.

"We just are not sure what we can count on from the state of Illinois and our best estimate is that we're potentially facing another $14 million to $20 million in additional cuts," Superintendent Kathryn Birkett said. "And some of those cuts will be very difficult because we have worked hard to prioritize cuts outside of the classroom but we're running out of cuts that we can make."

Compounding the district's problem is the $7.8 million the state is already late in paying.

With that in mind, the district is discussing how many of its roughly 680 non-tenured teachers may be released by the April 1 deadline. Those teachers account for about 31 percent of District 204's instructional staff.

"We are still working to determine the number of teachers that release could include but we feel we have to be forward with the non-tenured staff so they know that's a possibility," Birkett said. "We have about 680 non-tenured (teachers) but we're nowhere near cutting that number. There's a lot of Chicken Little out there."

Birkett, realizing the district cannot "make up the whole deficit on the backs of staff," said program cuts, building closures and increased class sizes are all on the table. The only thing not up for discussion, she said, is a tax increase.

"We have not talked about a referendum at all, not at all," she said. "We believe that in these fiscal times and what our community is dealing with, we are not looking at that at this time."

The solution, Birkett said, is for community members to contact legislators to make sure the message is clear.

"The message is that this timing is not of our doing. This isn't our timing based on some strategic plan," she said. "We feel we've gotten the highest financial recognition in the state for the last several years because we have balanced our budgets and been responsible,"

Lawmakers say they're hearing the district and others in similar situations but their influence is limited until Gov. Pat Quinn introduces his budget proposal and they begin dissecting it. The budget introduction, however, still could be weeks away.

Sen. Randy Hultgren, a Winfield Township Republican, said he thinks school districts eventually will get what they are owed but could not say how long the process will take.

"It feels like we're pushing against a wall right now," he said,

Over in the House, Naperville Republican Rep. Darlene Senger said she's frustrated with the lack of education funding.

"I am optimistic that Districts 204 and (Naperville Unit District) 203 (which is also owed between $4 million and $5 million in back payments) will get those late payments that are owed to them but I'm worried when those payments will be made," Senger said.

"We're hearing what our districts are saying and everyone here knows what the problem is. We need to fix it but there's only so much control we have," she said. "I can't make state funding change because I don't have that power. All I can do is be very fiscally responsible to our taxpayers here and make sure we provide the best possible education we can."

If and when the back payments are made, Birkett said she anticipates released teachers would be brought back in under their contract. But she can't guarantee it.

"Given the state of the state, we are trying to put ourselves in good position so that whatever they throw at us, we'll be ready," Birkett said. "We are now doing business in a world we have never done business in before."