State cuts will hit District 300 hard

Once described by a parent as the jewel of Community Unit District 300, a school for at-risk preschoolers in the Carpentersville area may need a large infusion of cash to maintain its luster.

The deLacey Family Education Center in Carpentersville took a big hit in the education budget state officials passed this week.

The center will lose about $412,000, or 32 percent, of its state funding this year, according to District 300 Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Crates.

The education budget included an estimated $1.9 million in cuts to District 300 this year, Crates said. Among the reductions:

• Oak Ridge School, an alternative high school in Carpentersville, will lose about $500,000, or 75 percent of its state funding.

• District 300's bilingual program will lose about $300,000, or 25 percent.

• The district will lose a $300,000 grant the state provided as an incentive for the Cambridge Lakes Charter School.

• The district's reading programs will lose $267,000, or 50 percent.

Although the cuts are dramatic, District 300 officials have long anticipated reduced state funding and have already cut this year's budget by about the same amount they expects to lose - $1.9 million.

The district's decision earlier this year to cut nontenured teachers will save an estimated $1.5 million, Crates said. The school board will vote Monday on eliminating bus aides for most preschoolers, a move that could save $450,000.

"Our budget is balanced right now," Crates said. "We will be cutting probably another couple million in the fall."

Finance committee member Dave Alessio said District 300 may need to defer scheduled upgrades to buildings and technology, as other school districts have done, to maintain a balanced budget next year.

"It's really too late to make changes for the upcoming school year," Alessio said, adding the board will "continue the review process" for next year.