Bolin: Worst is yet to come
Comments (...)MANLIUS — Faced with a projected deficit of up to $1.4 million for the 2012-13 school year, the Bureau Valley School Board approved a package of cuts and fee increases at its meeting Tuesday to save the district almost $225,000.
“You can’t balance the budget making the cuts we even have thought about,” said Finance Committee chairman Kent Siltman.
Siltman said the committee had reviewed projections for both income and expenses for the next several years before coming up with a list of cuts and fee increases. He said there were other possible cuts still under consideration.
The committee’s recommendations for budget reductions included:
• Eliminating the assistant principal/athletic director position and replacing it with a teacher stipend for a savings of $66,022.
• Eliminating the junior high athletic director positions and shifting the responsibility to the
building principals for a savings of $3,220.
• Reducing the district assistant bookkeeper to part-time for a savings of $20,115.
• Eliminate school nurse position for a savings of $32,000.
• Eliminate district curriculum/special education coordinator position for a savings of $92,000.
• Reducing the agreement with Beyond Green (Greg Christian Consulting) for a savings of $15,000.
The board immediately approved a motion to remove the school nurse from the list of recommendations, and then unanimously approved the rest of the cuts.
The board turned to the recommendations for increasing income, which included:
• Raising athletic admission fees to $4 for adults and $3 for students, raising an estimated $6,000.
• Increase driver’s education fees from $50 to $150, raising an estimated $8,000.
• Creating a tuition waiver for the children of full-time employees who do not live in the district to attend school in the district at a reduced rate, raising an estimated $17,000.
The announcement of the proposed driver’s education fee was met with gasps from some of the audience that filled the library.
Board member Rick Cernovich said he had a problem with picking out one small group — in this case about 80 families — and extracting a small amount of money from them.
Bolin responded that driver training school would cost $350 to $500, and Siltman said the committee had looked at raising it to the maximum of $250, but members felt that was too much at one time. Siltman said the fee had remained at $50 despite the rising costs of gas, insurance and salaries.
“It does not seem to be an unfair dollar amount for something that actually is a privilege and not a right,” Siltman said.
Board member Jim Lilley’s motion to change driver education fees to $100 passed on a 4-3 vote, with Lilley, Cernovich, Bolin and Myron Rumbold voting in favor.
Lilley also made a motion to eliminate entirely the service of Beyond Green instead of just reducing it from $37,000 to $22,000. Lilley said the new program, which was brought to the district to provide healthier food, included “all kinds” of food the students wouldn’t eat.
Siltman said he hated to see it totally eliminated because the district should feed students food of the highest quality and nutrition. The motion failed 2-5 with only Lilley and Rumbold voting in favor.
Bolin warned the board and the audience the worst was yet to come because of the state’s financial difficulties.
“I’ve never quite seen so many things that I thought the state wouldn’t touch, and they’re touching,” he said. “Their worst is ahead of them also, and that’s the scary thing, and that’s unfortunate for our children.”
Bolin said the board tried very hard to keep any cuts out of the classrooms, but such cuts might be necessary in the future.
“These are really minimal cuts unless you were the guy getting cut,” he said.
Comment on this story at www.bcrnews.com.
Comments
Total Comments 3 View/Add Comments |
Most Recent Comment wrote on ...
It may presently be a requirement in your school district. However how do change that requirement? Have four people on the board vote to eliminate the requirement. The Illinois State Board of Education has no requirement for students to take drivers ed or to get a drivers license in order to graduate high school. If costs continue to rise and people continue to push back against program fee increases you will see more and more schools simply get out of the business of drivers ed. Sad but true. |
