Here’s what’s happening at School District 205 …
By Chris Fox
For The Elmhurst Independent
The Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 Board held a meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 26 at the District 205 Center, 162 S. York St. All seven board members attended the meeting.
Presentation on annual budget, state funding status
Immediately before the regular meeting, the board held a public hearing related to the district’s 2017-18 annual budget. Christopher Whelton, the district’s assistant superintendent for finance and operations, gave a presentation during the public hearing. Whelton provided some updated figures from the district’s tentative budget. He said Illinois’ new state funding formula rolled certain grants into state aid and that the state generally keeps up with state aid payments. The state, which had been delinquent in two quarterly payments to the district, will catch up in those payments, Whelton said.
Whelton said the 2017-18 budget indicates revenues of nearly $120 million and expenditures of about $122 million, reflecting a deficit of approximately $2.1 million.
The board voted unanimously during the regular meeting to approve the district’s 2017-18 budget.
Where revenues come from…
The district receives about 89 percent of its revenues from local sources, according to Wheaton. State funding accounts for about 8 percent of the district’s revenues, while federal funds make up nearly 3 percent of revenues. Property taxes are by far the district’s largest source of revenue, accounting for more than 83 percent of revenues, stated Whelton.
Whelton stated the 2017-18 budget reflects an unexpected reduction in health insurance premiums. He said the district added some positions between its tentative and final budgets, which added nearly $300,000 in salaries to the final budget.
Overall, about 77 percent of the district’s expenditures are related to salaries and benefits—about 63 percent toward salaries and nearly 14 percent toward benefits. Whelton said the budget includes about $71 million in base salaries. Salaries to certified staff members account for about $53.7 million of that $71 million.
Whelton said the district has added about 13 certified staff positions per year since the 2011-12 year. At that time, the district had about 615 positions. In 2017-18, the district will have about 695 positions for certified staff members. Commissioner Margaret Harrell asked Whelton about enrollment figures since 2011-12. Whelton did not have exact figures, but he said the increase in enrollment has been small and steady during that time and did not nearly compare with the increase in staff members.
Blum: Budget won’t balance till City releases TIF funds
Referring to a dispute between the school district and the City of Elmhurst, Board member Chris Blum noted at the end of Whelton’s presentation that the city has not released certain tax increment financing (TIF) funds to the district. Blum said that if the district had received those funds from the city, the district would have a balanced budget.
Public concerned Fischer gets no crossing guard
There were seven speakers during the public participation segment of the regular meeting. Several of the speakers said they were alarmed that Fischer School did not qualify to have a crossing guard because portions of the area around the school are in unincorporated Elmhurst. The City of Elmhurst reportedly hires crossing guards. The speakers said it was unacceptable that there weren’t crossing guards outside of the school. Other speakers urged the board to improve its communication with its stakeholders.
Sandburg PTA donates $8000 to purchase furniture
The board voted unanimously to accept an $8,000 donation from the Sandburg Middle School PTA. The donation will be used to purchase furniture for various locations around the school.
Student expelled for two years
The board also voted unanimously to approve an administration recommendation to expel a York High School student for two years, until September of 2019. The board discussed the matter in closed session before voting in the public meeting.
The school board will hold its next regular meeting on Oct. 10.
