SD 210 Board Reviews Proposed 2011-12 Budget

CLARIFICATION: An early version of this story did not make it clear that the Lincoln-Way High School District 210 board approved the budget for public display only. Final approval of the budget will be in September.

Lincoln-Way High School District 210 board members reviewed a tentative budget for the 2011-12 school year and approved it for public display at Thursday's meeting under a shroud of uncertainty over whether the district would stay within its budget, something it couldn't do last fiscal year.

“Are we going to be able to close the books next year in the black? I don't know,” said Superintendent Lawrence Wyllie.

The district expects revenue to be $97,663,043 for the 2011-12 fiscal year, with roughly $61 million coming from the educational fund. However, Wyllie said he expects the district to spend nearly all of it, with slightly more than $155,000 left over.

Last fiscal year, the district went over budget for the first time by $2,432,146 and needed to dip into its reserves to make up the shortfall. Although the state owed SD 210 about $1.6 million, that money would not have been enough to cover the overage. 

“We went into our reserves for $2.4 million,” he said. “I don't like that trend, and I know you don't either. However, I see a possibility of easing this a little bit (in the coming year).”

Despite reaching into its reserves, the district still maintained a fund balance of $29,711,642 as of June 30, Wyllie said.

District 210 has cut some $8 million from its budget, but Wyllie said that those results don't always show right away.

“When you're cutting stuff out, other stuff is going up, and you're trying to offset the increases of the other things and trying to stay as flat as we possibly can,” he said. “We're further into cutting mode than I ever thought we'd be in this district, but we're in an economic situation that's different than we've ever faced in our life.”

The proposed budget can be viewed at the office of the superintendent at , 1801 E. Lincoln Hwy., New Lenox,  beginning at 8 a.m. today. The board also will hold a public hearing about the budget at 6 p.m., Sept. 6, at L-W Central. The board will give final approval on the budget later in September.

Other items from Thursday's SD 210 board meeting:

• Before the meeting, six district employees were recognized for “making Lincoln-Way a special place for students,” with Destination Excellence Awards. The six were: Bobbie Boban, para-professional; Kevin Coy, guidance counselor; Lynn Merrick, associate principal; Jeff Render, social science teacher;Nancy Sargis, library assistant; and Kathy Sulkowski, reading teacher.

• The district hired six new employees: Jodie Marshall, a world language/reading instructor for Central and West; John Willis, a permanent science substitute at Central; Allen Rendak, a music instructor at Central; Chirsopher Mroczek, a music instructor at East; Cara Triezenberg, a part-time school social worker at East; and Jill Rockrohr, a part-time psychologist at East.

• West cafeteria supervisor Jamie Adams was granted parental leave for the 2011-12 school year.