Dist. 220 faces budget, Chinese program dilemma

Parents of students in Barrington Unit District 220's Chinese language immersion program have been working to secure private funding and cut costs as officials struggle over continuing the program after its federal funding was lost.

The elimination of $1.2 million from a grant that should have helped pay for four more years of the program threw a curve ball into the district's budgeting process, which had seemed to be going more smoothly than in recent years.

And another wrinkle Tuesday was the progression of a state bill that would call into question the district's revenue assumptions for next year if overall property values declined.

District 220 board President Brian Battle said that bill becoming law would put the district “back to Square One” in formulating next year's budget.

But Battle also said the board and administration could credit the district's newly improved “strong AAA” credit rating from Standard & Poor's to the conservative approach they've been taking with the budget during recent economic times.

“As painful as this process is, it's the right thing to do,” Battle said of four successive years of significant budget cuts.

This year, the district hoped to base its cuts largely on reductions that would have made sense anyway due to gradual enrollment declines.

Earlier this month, the board endorsed $616,140 in potential budget cuts, including the elimination of 6.4 full-time positions.

But administrators also presented the board with a list of $1.4 million in recommended additions which altogether would overwhelm the cuts.

Board members are in the process of choosing among the items on the recommended additions list, but a slim majority tentatively favored the additional $243,200 per year for the Chinese program.

Parents of students in the program are simultaneously looking into setting up a not-for-profit fundraising agency for it as well as other sources of grant funding.

But other parents Tuesday cautioned the board against using more than a fair share of tax dollars for a program that serves a relatively small number — 100 students this year.

The board is aiming to make final decisions on both the overall budget and the Chinese program on March 6.