By Chris Fox
For The Elmhurst Independent
School District 205 Board held its first regular meeting of 2020 on Jan. 14 at the District 205 Center. All seven board members attended the meeting.
The meeting featured a presentation about its annual audit review for the year ending June 30, 2019. Andrew Mace of the district’s auditing firm, formerly Klein Hall (which has recently merged with Wipfli LLP), delivered the presentation. One of the highlights of the review noted that, as of June 30, 2019, the unassigned fund balance in the district’s general fund was nearly $61.7 million, or 43 percent of annual general fund expenditures.
Mace also noted that the district paid down about $8.7 million related to bonds during the year ending June 30, 2019.
Mace warned that the state of Illinois could potentially push several millions of dollars in teachers’ retirement and health insurance liabilities back from the state to individual districts. Board members noted their concern about potential pension cost shifts and how they would affect the district’s finances.
Moyer provides update on construction plans
District 205 Superintendent David Moyer provided a brief update about the district’s construction plans at several schools. He said the bids on upcoming projects have been released, and that the bids would be coming in on Jan. 31. Moyer said he hoped the board would be able to approve those bids at its meeting on Feb. 11.
Field construction could begin earlier than planned
Moyer said the district may revise its construction timeline because it borrowed more money than initially proposed in its first round of bond sales related to its upcoming construction projects. Moyer said taking in that additional money could lead to moving up the timeline on the construction of a Field Elementary School. The initial timeline called for the new Field facility to open at the start of the 2024-25 school year. Moyer said the district is confident it could move that deadline up by one year, with the new Field school opening at the start of the 2023-24 school year.
