Crystal Lake Dist. 155 prepares leaner budget

As students and teachers in Crystal Lake High School District 155 enjoy their summer vacations, district officials are working to put the district's 2010-11 budget on a diet.

Projecting a decrease in state funding to the tune of about $2.4 million, the administration has recommended a package of reductions totaling more than $2.5 million.

While the school board approved the package earlier this year, the cuts will not be final until the board signs off on the budget in September.

The reductions include salary freezes, leaving vacant positions unfilled, increasing some fees and running some departments more efficiently.

"We're attempting to impact classroom instruction as little as possible," Assistant Superintendent for Finance John Lutsch said this week. "We're not laying off teachers. We're not laying off staff."

More than half of the reduction (almost $1.3 million) will be the result of reduced capital expenses - mainly deferred maintenance projects at district schools.

Lutsch said the district will still complete about $1.1 million of building maintenance this summer.

Educational expenses will be cut by more than $600,000. Among these reductions is a freeze for administrators (including Superintendent Jill Hawk), expected to save $68,335.

The district expects higher fees for summer school, lockers, lunch and student handbooks to bring in an additional $92,000. Restructuring and increasing many of the rates the district charges to organizations that rent out space in its schools is expected to bring in another $240,000.

District officials also expect to reduce transportation costs by $323,000 by reorganizing bus routes, using District 155's buses for trips downstate instead of renting out buses and requiring schools (instead of the central administration) to pay for field trips.

"We're not eliminating opportunities," Lutsch said. "Where we can, we'll provide the transportation ourselves."

The board will get its first peek at a tentative budget in August. Despite the bad news coming from Springfield, some District 155 officials are confident Crystal Lake-area high schools can weather the storm.

"We're still going to be pretty strong financially," board President Ted Wagner said. "The areas we looked at won't impact the educational value."

To view a complete list of budget reductions, visit d155.org/newsarchive/0910/100527BudgetCuts.htm.