D15 Board Approves $6 Million in Budget Reductions

To address the District’s structural deficit problem, the District 15 Board of Education unanimously approved $6 million in budget reductions for the 2012-13 school year during its March 14 meeting.

It did so, however, while directing the administration to continue to seek alternative savings in an attempt to reinstate as many eliminated teaching positions as possible, and to avoid the reduction of program assistant hours, enabling them to retain their health benefits.

“We want to find the best solution possible for the kids in the community and for the people who work here and serve their needs,” said Superintendent Scott Thompson while outlining the reduction plan. “So the proposal tonight is the result of a lot of work, but the work is not stopping tonight. The work is going to continue. We are going to continue to work on ways to save money and keep the District in a strong financial position that will allow us to maintain our strong tradition of excellence and reinstate some of these reductions that are being made tonight.”

The $6 million in reductions are expected to reduce the District’s projected 2012-13 deficit from approximately $9.6 million to about $3.5 million. Roughly $3 million of the reductions will be made with minor impact on students and programs, but approximately $3 million of the reductions will directly affect the classroom.

Currently, the District’s class size targets are: 20 students for kindergarten, 24 for Grades 1-3, 26 for Grades 4-6, and 28 for Grades 7-8. By increasing class size targets to 26 students for Grades K-6 and strictly adhering to its prescribed student-teacher ratios, the District estimates it will be able to reduce 26 or more classroom teacher positions (21 of which would be accounted for through upcoming retirements) and save roughly $1.43 million.

“We already have large class sizes. If you look at our class sizes compared to those of surrounding districts, you’ll see that ours are already larger,” said Mr. Thompson. “We don’t want to see our class sizes go up, but this the only way that we can really find some savings at this time. If we are able to find savings later, it would be the administration’s recommendation that we go back to the current class size targets.”

Also, reducing the equivalent of four traveling teachers from the District’s art, music, and physical education departments will save another $220,000, and turning program assistants in regular education classrooms into part-time positions will amount to about $1.25 million in benefits savings.

“We really appreciate what our program assistants do in the classrooms,” said Mr. Thompson. “Many of us have said that, when we walk into the buildings, sometimes it is difficult with backs turned to tell who is the teacher and who is the program assistant because they work so hard.”

These cost-saving steps will not eliminate the District’s deficit. Rather, the plan requires it to use approximately $3.5 million of its fund balance next year, and to continue using more of its cash reserves in subsequent years. By the end of 2015-16, its fund balance would stand at a projected $28.3 million, or roughly 18 percent of its budget. However, without the reductions, the District’s 2015-16 fund balance is projected to stand at about $3.9 million, or roughly 2 percent of its budget.

Additionally, these projections do not account for “unknown” cost increases that may very well hit the District in the near future. For instance, the state will reimburse the District for about $1.5 million of its transportation costs this year, but proposed changes to that reimbursement formula could reduce those payments by $400,000, $800,000, and $1.2 million in each of the next three years, and $1.4 million moving forward.

Also, pension reform measures that are nearing approval in Springfield could cost the District an additional $5 million a year, while cuts to Medicaid could cost it another $200,000 annually.

Proposed changes to the tax cap law may prohibit school districts from increasing their property tax revenue in accordance with the inflation rate in years when the overall value of their existing tax bases does not increase. This could cost the District $3 million, and that amount would compound at the rate of inflation with each passing year.

“These are some of the unknowns,” said Mr. Thompson. “That is why we believe these projections are conservative simply because they are only built upon what we know today.”

The administration believes additional savings related to salaries and benefits could be negotiated with the District’s labor groups. If agreed upon, those savings could, according to the District’s projections, total an estimated $2.2 million next year and compound to an overall savings of about $23.2 million by the end of 2015-16. They could, in fact, leave the District in a strong enough financial position to consider reversing some of the proposed reductions.

“I am confident that once this is all done, we will be in a good place to continue to move forward and continue to have the excellent system we have been known for in the past,” said Mr. Thompson.

For more information, contact Superintendent Scott Thompson at 847-963-3205 or thompsos@ccsd15.com.

-Story Submitted by Community Consolidated School District 15