Dist. 158 makes gains in balancing budget

The Huntley District 158 school board found ways to surmount a $6.4 million budget deficit in the 2012 school year, but it could come at a cost that at least one board member is unwilling to pay.

Among the proposed reductions the school board discussed at Thursday’s committee of the whole meeting were to decrease staffing levels, thus eliminating $1 million in full-time teacher salaries. While some positions will be eliminated through attrition and retirements, board members and staff said a number of layoffs would be necessary.

No decisions were made at Thursday’s meeting and the board is expected to take action at the March 17 board meeting.

“There were a number of staffing options, but unfortunately I think the only prudent thing we can do is move forward in reducing (full-time equivalent) salaries by $1 million,” District Superintendent John Burkey said.

The decreased staffing levels will result in larger class sizes, board members conceded.

Board member Donald Drzal said he did not support the option and argued the district did not know the full picture in terms of revenues.

“With the options that are available as of March 3, I don’t think we need to go the full route,” Drzal said. “There are other resources at our disposal in terms of fund balances to deal with the situation ... I don’t think it warrants a reduction of $1 million in head count at this stage of the game.”

Drzal added that taxpayers would rather see the district dip into the fund balance rather than increase class sizes about 10 percent

Other board members, however, said the district should not start deficit spending on a recurring budget item.

“Our revenue assumptions might not even come to fruition,” board members Michael Skala said. “It’s not like we have millions and millions of dollars sitting in the bank. It’s there so we don’t have to issue (tax anticipation warrants) at this time of the year to make payroll.”

In addition to the proposed staffing reductions, the committee recommended cutting about $1.3 million from the operations and maintenance budget, which includes deferring the reconstruction of Academic Drive. About $400,000 was reduced from the technology budget and the district would save about $2 million through a debt repayment. The remaining deficit would be realized through reduced health insurance costs, administrators said.