District 180 Anticipates Budget Shortfall

The budget for the 2011-2012 fiscal year approved by the school board this week anticipates expenditures topping revenue by nearly $800,000.

No one voiced an objection to the $10.2 million budget at a public hearing Monday night during the board’s regular monthly meeting in the band room.

“The fund balance is expected to decrease $796,000,” Superintendent Dr. Tom Schneider told board members. “Total revenues are down 9 percent. … State education and transportation funds are down a quarter million dollars, roughly, and that’s largely due to a loss in our average daily attendance (ADA). We’re down 70 students since 2009, and, of course, state funding is determined on average daily attendance.”

Schneider said revenue for the district’s transportation fund is expected to decrease 42 percent due to action taken by Gov. Pat Quinn to battle the state’s budget deficit.

The federal government has its own budget problems, and the budget approved by the District 180 board without dissent anticipates a dramatic reduction in revenue from federal sources.

“Federal funding is the one we’re most concerned about,” Schneider said. “Last year, we lost our Payments In Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funds from the Department of Energy of about $100,000, and we expect that will continue this year. We’re also anticipating a reduction, if not total elimination, of funds.”

The district received about $260,000 in Impact Aid funds last year.

The budget projects an ending fund balance of $2.5 million, down from $3.3 million.

Few cost-containment options

Schneider indicated there were not a lot of opportunities for further belt-tightening by the district, outlining some of the cost-reduction steps taken since he became superintendent five years ago.

“We were running a deficit of a million dollars,” he recalled. “So my first year with the board, we cut eight teachers and eight aides, and eliminated every sports program, the gifted program, the play, and full-day kindergarten. Those, as you remember, were horrible times.”

Even with those measures, Schneider said the district was still running a deficit of a quarter million dollars.

A successful referendum in April 2009 allowed the district to restore the programs it had cut and staved off the elimination of 4.5 teaching positions.

“The referendum has really served as a lifeboat to get the district through what would have been much more difficult times,” Schneider said. “The district has already wisely restricted spending.”

He said the board’s actions have enabled the district to maintain appropriate class sizes and forego further personnel reductions.

“We’re also facing a need to address some of our facilities issues that we have not addressed in a very long time, and that includes the siding at Burr Ridge Middle School,” Schneider said. “That’s original wood siding. It’s been there for 30-some years.”

He said a family of woodpeckers is living in one of the holes in the siding, illustrating the need for replacing it.

Schneider said requirements of the Head Start program also are forcing the district to invest in playground modifications at .