District 303 prepares more than $4 million in new cuts
St. Charles Unit District 303 officials thought they had solved their budget problems in January by instituting $5.5 million worth of cuts, but a tumultuous state budget will force the district to plan for an additional $4 million in belt tightening.
The school board's Business Services Committee has its first look at the cuts tonight. The majority of the expense reductions come in the form of delaying the update of science textbooks for one year ($1.2 million) and keeping district's current computers, maintenance vehicles and school buses in working order for another year rather than purchasing new versions ($915,000).
However, there are some possible direct effects to teaching and school staff. One of the budget cut options calls for the elimination of the pool of money established in the first set of budget cuts to pay for new enrollment aids or actual classroom teachers if elementary class sizes began to grow beyond the district's guidelines. Instead, the district would use the "cap and send" method where, once the class size maximum is reached in an elementary school grade, a student would be sent somewhere else that hasn't reached the maximum class size.
That change is expected to save the district about $200,000. Likewise, district leaders want to slash pay for substitute teachers by $10 a day, saving another $200,000.
Other money come from the use of leftover grant money and the savings generated by the loss of a district administrator, Brian Harris. Harris is leaving to become the new superintendent of the Wheaton Warrenville Unit District 200 school district.
District spokesman Jim Blaney said the discussion of the cuts will serve as a contingency plan to handle whatever level of funding the district receives for the state.
"If there is any kind of changes with the way the state comes through with the way they fund education, it may affect our budget," Blaney said. "We have no idea where the state budget will end up, and we may not know until the summer."
The unknown funding level sets the stage for a summer of debate about the cuts and their potential impacts. Blaney said all, some or none of the cuts may be necessary depending on what the state does.
"Some districts have decided they are going to cut all the way now to deal with the potential for the state cutting all their funding. We've decided let's do what we absolutely need to when we know what's going to be the case. If all the funding we expect comes through, then our work for the 2010-2011 budget is done."