District 214 not anticipating layoffs, big cuts

Unlike many other school districts, District 214 officials are not preparing for massive layoffs and program cut backs in 2010-2011.

"I don't know what is going to happen on the state level, no one does, but I'm not going to bring you a doomsday budget," said Superintendent David Schuler. "That doesn't make sense. We will prepare a balanced budget and there will need to be some reductions, but overall we're OK. We're not great, but we're OK."

The Northwest Suburban High School District 214 school board unanimously approved 2010-2011 budget guidelines and assumptions on Thursday. The budget includes revenues and expenditures each totaling about $223 million.

Board President Bill Dussling said the delay in state funding will hurt the district in the long run.

"There are only so many holes in the boat we can patch before we have to go to our reserves," he said.

Board member Alva Kreutzer agreed with Dussling.

"We can't rely on the state for anything," she said. "The numbers keep changing."

According to District 214 budget assumptions, enrollment is expected to remain stable next year at about 12,300 students. Transportation and technology costs are expected to increase by between 3 and 5 percent next year, according to a District 214 memo.

The school board a five-year contract in May which stated District 214 teachers will still get their step raises, which vary between 2 percent and 2.5 percent but the across-the-board salary increases will be frozen for 2009-10. The increases will then be tied to the consumer price index for the remaining years with a 0 percent to 3.5 percent increase in 2010-11 and 2011-12 and 1 percent to 3.75 percent increase for years 2012-13 and 2013-14.

The contract is one of the things that helped keep layoffs at bay, Schuler said.

"We're not looking at massive layoffs," he said. "We're much better off compared to our brothers and sisters across the state."

Elgin Area School District U-46 is facing a $50 million deficit. District officials are talking about class size increases, firing hundreds of teachers, cutting employee pay and increasing benefit contributions.

The Maine Township High School District 207 school board earlier this month approved cutting 75 largely nontenured, certified teachers by school year end to save $5 million.