Glenbard Dist. 87 wants more information from Springfield

Because of very conservative estimates made early this year, Glenbard High School District 87 officials consider themselves better off financially than they expected, but uncertain funding from Springfield still leaves them in a bind.

Board member and finance committee chairman Tom Voltaggio said Monday the situation has caused budgeting for next year to be a bit more difficult.

"The challenge we face, obviously, is our funding levels are unpredictable," Voltaggio said at Monday's board meeting. "That unpredictability is giving us major headaches in terms of budgeting effectively."

Voltaggio said the time could soon come when school officials throughout the state have to let their displeasure be known.

"At some point, it makes it incumbent on school districts to send a message that there needs to be a lot more rational thinking coming from Springfield," he said. "If they are going to cut this budget, at least let us know what's getting cut. We are getting so many mixed signals from Springfield. It's a difficult problem."

Assistant Superintendent for Business Services Chris McClain said the state is behind in at least two payments for a total of at least $1.7 million. Schools throughout the state are waiting on $1.4 billion in state payments.

A recently approved state budget left a $13 billion shortfall still open.

In the past, Gov. Pat Quinn has said without a state income tax increase of 1 percent, many programs would have to be cut. These would include funding to many state-mandated programs, which board member Richard Heim said could end up costing District 87 an additional $620,000.

"We have a lot of mandated programs we have to fund," Voltaggio said. "That's what we're here for. But we are getting to the point where the state is so sporadic at payment, we have to question our ability to fund those mandates."

Voltaggio said the only thing the district can do for the time being is talk to local legislators and hope other school districts follow suit.

"We have to make an educated guess from year to year," he said. "It's hard to plan rationally."

Also at the meeting, the board approved hiring 11 full-time equivalent positions, including around six being filled by teachers who had been laid off in February.

The routine procedure will put the staff levels at 575 teachers, which is 23 shy of last year's total. About four more full-time equivalents will be hired as the summer progresses and class sizes and requirements become more clear, said Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Rod Molek.