Districts 211 & 214 push through despite state education cuts
State education funding cuts that are likely won't affect Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 and Northwest Suburban High School District 214 as drastically as some other districts that are in worse financial shape or more heavily reliant on state aid.
The state funds only about 7 percent of District 211's budget. District 211 officials continue to crunch numbers, and don't know yet how much of an impact the cuts will have on its budget.
District 211 Associate Superintendent for Business David Torres said his staff is preparing a contingency plan, but he doesn't project layoffs for the district this coming year. All spending will be re-evaluated once the numbers actually arrive, a process that Springfield lawmakers could drag schools through until 2011, well after districts are required to adopt a budget.
District 211 expects to make reductions to line items, capital outlays and purchased services to survive the cuts, Torres said. However, the outlook beyond the next school year is murky, and staff cuts are a possibility.
"It's not sustainable long term," Torres said of the state's planned reductions in funding.
Districts 211 and 214's reliance on state pales compared to Elgin Area Unit School District 46 which gets about 25 percent of its annual budget from the state. Officials there announced this week they were considering $19 million to $29 million in budget cuts.
Though state officials on Monday announced $900 million in education cuts are likely in the 2011 state budget, District 211's Torres said the schools were tipped off in December and have since been getting ready for reductions.
The state is already behind in funding schools. Torres said the state owes District 211 $2.3 million from last year. The district has been functioning OK despite the volatile nature of state funding.
District 214 board officials also discussed the reductions at their meeting two weeks ago. That's when the board approved its 2010-11 budget guidelines, which includes revenues and expenditures each totaling about $223 million. Superintendent David Schuler said his district would be OK with the funding cuts, but that spending reductions would have to be made. And echoing Torres' comments, Board President Bill Dussling expressed concern that problems with state funding will hurt the district in the long run.