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Schools

District 219 Applies Brakes to Budget

In slowing process to make more cuts, board isn't expected to pass plan until September.

students will be back in school before administrators have a final budget in place.

That was the reality as school board members decided Monday to table plans to post the tentative budget until after their July 25 meeting.

Because the proposed spending plan must be posted for 30 days before it can be approved, board members expect to pass it at their Sept. 12 meeting--nearly three weeks after the new school year begins for the more than 4,500 students at Niles West, Niles North and Niles Central high schools.

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The decision to delay the posting of a tentative budget follows the . Administrators are urged to reduce discretionary spending and other costs to get spending to levels close to the district's actually needs.

“What the board did is exciting,” said school board president Robert Silverman.

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Silverman noted the board sent staff back to the drawing board at a June 22 finance committee and asked them to make changes to the way they prepare the budget. 

“The community should be happy with what we did,” he said.

The changes will be made to a first draft of the budget that included $147.3 million in spending, which would raise the district’s operating expense per pupil to more than $26,000--a 7.63 percent increase. Revenue, mainly from property taxes, was estimated at $152.8 million--a 4.33 percent rise.

The spending tweaks are expected to include holding the line on administrators' salaries  as well as purchased services and supplies, Silverman said.

“We need to budget as tightly as possible,” he said.

The low-fat budget could force the district's hand if an emergency requires additional spending. To exceed the approved spending levels, the board would have to pass a budget amendment during the fiscal year. But a notice of the change would have to be posted for 30 days, said Paul O’Malley, the assistant superintendent for business services.

If the district needed to make a nonbudgeted expenditure right away–say to replace a boiler--it could take funds from another spending category and then replace the money with the amendment's allotment, O’Malley explained.

Silverman said that makes sense, noting, “That’s the way a family budget works.”

The district also will look at ways to increase the average daily student attendance, which would have the dual effect of increasing the amount of state funding and reducing the per-pupil operating expenses. District 219’s average daily attendance last year was slightly lower than the state average and its per-pupil expenses were among the highest for Illinois high school districts.

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