FY2011 Budget Issues

[macrockett]

winsome.cnchost.com/MAC/Austerityplanpresentation12-7-09CompatibilityMode.pdf

Here is the pdf presentation by Dave Holm tonight at the board meeting (I did not attend).

Projected FY2011 deficit is $9.2 million.

There is some discussion of the recommedations by the CFAC, nothing stands out on first glance although it looks like one of the recommendations is to delay op and maintenance expenditures 25% and slow down the technology replacement program, neither being a very good idea, especially delay of technology. Nor is delay of new textbook.

They are also calling "staffing efficiencies" , increasing class sizes by one student at middle and high school levels and consolidating classes at high school with low enrollments.

No mention of consolidation here.

One thing i would like to point out that I have mentioned several times, in order of impact on the bottom line.

1) The salaries and benefits area is the gorilla in the room, growing at approximately $7.5 million per year based on current trends. They did mention paring 6 jobs in administration.

2) After than there is plenty of unused capacity in our schools. We still have 1/2 a high school coming on line in February or so, approximately 1500 seats. I don't hear much complaining of overcrowding lately....

3) Then there is all of the stuff mentioned in this attached pdf which will amount to very little relative to the size of the budget.

So there was very little impact mentioned on #1 and little on #2. I just do not see much here that will significantly dent the projected increases of about $7.5 million ever year, year after year....

With out impacting 1 and 2, the referendum will have to be quite large. I suggest everyone start hammering this Board.

[macrockett]

www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1926389,D204-works-to-balance-budget_na120709.article#


D204 works to balance budget
Comments

December 8, 2009
By KATHY CICHON [e-mail]

Cost-cutting actions stretching across all areas will help Indian Prairie School District 204 eliminate its $9.2 million deficit in next year's budget — measures that include the elimination of some positions, consolidation of classes and delaying some expenditures.

But the effects of the plan on students, school officials said Monday, will be minimal.

"When a family balances their budget, everyone sacrifices a bit here and there," board President Curt Bradshaw said. "And this plan is very similar. There's not one area where you'll see a dramatic impact."

The $9.2 million shortfall in the 2011 budget is attributed to several revenue challenges, said Dave Holm, assistant superintendent for business. Those include property taxes capped at the overall consumer price index for the calendar year, which in 2008 was 0.1 percent; fewer state dollars for education funding; no more federal stimulus funds and slowing new property growth.

Members of the Citizens Financial Advisory Committee worked with school officials to look for ways to close the gap. In addition, the district solicited ideas from the public and received nearly 200 suggestions for cost-cutting.

"I think we ended up with cost reductions the cabinet feels confident in that we can move forward and maintain the district's level of quality in terms of our academic program moving forward," Holm said.

If the recommendations are implemented as suggested for 2011, the district expects to go into 2012 and 2013 in sound fiscal condition.

"With these reductions — most of which are not one-year wonders, they're reductions that continue on as we go forward — we'll be pretty well set for the next couple of years," Holm said.

While no action was taken by the board Monday, administrators presented the board with its recommendations. Six categories will help the district close the gap, school officials said. Those include revenue enhancements; delaying expenditures; and efficiencies in operations, staffing, health benefits and programs.

"There are parts of this that we'll probably ask the board to make sooner rather than later," Superintendent Kathy Birkett said. "And there are parts of this that can wait."

A big part of what's next, she said, is looking at the association contracts for both certified and classified staff, which are up this year.

Birkett said officials focused on the students in their recommendations in order to "affect the classroom very minimally.

"That was a driving force," she said. "That was our mission throughout the entire process."

Students at the middle and high school level will see their class size grow by one student, which officials estimate will result in about 20 fewer teaching positions.

"It is minimal, and just with our general attrition, we believe it will have minimal impact," Birkett said. "We lose enough teachers just by moving, family situation, etc. that we expect that to have minimal impact."

In addition, classes at the high school level with low enrollments will be consolidated.

"The kids have to register before we know what that impact is," Birkett said.

At the district's central office, six full-time positions will also be eliminated, with some of those eliminations coming through attrition as well, she said.

Capital outlay for operations and maintenance will be reduced by 25 percent for one year, technology replacement will be slowed and textbook adoption will be delayed by one year. Other measures include reduction in mailings, copying, paper usage and lawn maintenance. Officials also plan to evaluate and reduce extracurricular stipend assignments.

Revenue enhancements call for a minimal increase in registration fees, including pre-school tuition.

"Like everyone else, we'd rather not increase fees as much as we can avoid them," Holm said. "… We're certainly not going to go very high in that arena."

The district also plans a moderate increase in building rental fees, along with promoting use of school facilities.

"We're particularly interested in what we can do with building rental. We think there's some opportunity there," Holm said. "Not all of our facilities get rented as often as we'd like them to be."

Board members praised staff's effort in drafting the recommendations.

"They have done a tremendous job developing a plan that can balance the budget while really minimizing the impact to students. We owe it to our taxpayers to live within our means just as they're striving to do," Bradshaw said. "… It's not some draconian we're going to reduce the budget by 3 percent across the board; it's much more strategic than most plans you see."

A complete copy of the recommendations is available on District 204's Web site at www.ipsd.org.

[macrockett]

www.dailyherald.com/story/print/?id=342532


Dist. 204 looks to erase deficit
By Justin Kmitch | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 12/8/2009 12:01 AM

District 204 Austerity Plan for 2011

With the 2010 budget year underway, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 officials have introduced a 30-point plan to erase a projected $9.2 million deficit from the 2011 budget.

The deficit was caused by decreased state funding and a drastic slowdown in local tax revenue, officials said.

After reviewing more than 200 ideas submitted by the community, staff and the district's Citizens Financial Advisory Committee, Superintendent Kathy Birkett said the list was narrowed to suggestions that would have the least impact on classroom activities.

"A real major focus was on the students and, as we were deciding what we needed to be austere about and where we were making some of our decisions, we really tried not to affect the classroom," Assistant Superintendent for Finance Dave Holm said. "So that was a driving force and our mission throughout the entire process."

The recommendation presented to the board Monday night focused on six areas: increasing revenue, delaying expenditures, increasing operational efficiencies, examining staffing levels, reviewing health benefit claims and cutting several program costs.

Some of the 30 items in the plan include consolidating high school courses with lower enrollments; reducing operations and maintenance spending by 25 percent; slowing the technology replacement program; auditing health benefit claims; minimally increasing building and facility rental fees and eliminating six positions in the central office.

Board President Curt Bradshaw said he was happy to see savings measures spread across all areas of the district.

"When a family balances their budget, everyone sacrifices a bit here and there and this plan is very similar," Bradshaw said. "There's not one area where you'll see a traumatic impact, so I think they've done a great job making sure any sacrifices that are there are spread amongst the district."

While Holm was praised for erasing a $6.5 million deficit through similar measures to produce a balanced budget this year, he said repeating the task won't be easy.

"This process is really phase two, because phase one of cutting costs really relates to the current year," Holm said. "We had a $6.5 million deficit projection about a year ago for this year, and through our process, we were able to bring that to a balanced budget. But it's important to note that the low-hanging fruit has been picked and each time we go through this, it gets more challenging."

While saving where possible will be key, Holm said it's equally important for the district to continue bringing in new revenue.

"We're particularly interested in what we can do with building rental, because we think there's some opportunities there," he said. "We need to look at the fees themselves, and we also need to see if there's a way to take these assets that the community helped pay for and leverage them for additional revenue."

Holm said the plan will keep the district afloat for the near future, and predicted a slow housing market rebound also may aid the district.

"I would say that with these reductions - most of which are not one-year wonders - they're reductions that continue on as we go forward," Holm said. "We'll be pretty well set for at least the next few years."

Revenue enhancements:

• Use carry-over dollars from federal and state grants where available

• Minimally increase registration fees, including preschool tuition

• Moderately increase building rental fees

• Review building rental program's fee structure

• Promote use of school facilities

Delay expenditures:

• Reduce operations and maintenance capital outlay by 25 percent for one year

• Slow technology replacement program

• Delay new textbook adoption by one year

Operational efficiencies:

• Reduce central office department budgets

• Renew emphasis on energy management

• Reduce mailings, copying and paper usage

• Eliminate underutilized software licenses

• Increase efficiency in electronic tests and scoring

Staffing efficiencies:

• Austere approach toward compensation and contract negotiation

• Increase class size by one at middle schools and high schools

• Assign elementary interventionist by need

• Consolidate high school classes with low enrollments

• Reduce central office staffing by six full-time employees

Health benefit efficiencies:

• Consider plan efficiency changes researched by insurance committee

• Conduct dependent eligibility audit

• Use health claims review service to eliminate ineligible claims

Program efficiencies:

• Evaluate and reduce extracurricular stipend assignments

• Reduce lawn-maintenance schedules

• Reduce curriculum-writing projects

• Secure alternative funding for the Fine Arts Festival, which already has been done

• Discontinue Atomic Learning online subscription

• Reduce online learning budget

• Narrow recruitment effort

• Eliminate Prism VIP and real estate agent tour events

[doctorwho]

Dec 8, 2009 14:55:09 GMT -6 macrockett said:

www.dailyherald.com/story/print/?id=342532


Dist. 204 looks to erase deficit
By Justin Kmitch | Daily Herald Staff
Published: 12/8/2009 12:01 AM

District 204 Austerity Plan for 2011

With the 2010 budget year underway, Indian Prairie Unit District 204 officials have introduced a 30-point plan to erase a projected $9.2 million deficit from the 2011 budget.

The deficit was caused by decreased state funding and a drastic slowdown in local tax revenue, officials said.

After reviewing more than 200 ideas submitted by the community, staff and the district's Citizens Financial Advisory Committee, Superintendent Kathy Birkett said the list was narrowed to suggestions that would have the least impact on classroom activities.

"A real major focus was on the students and, as we were deciding what we needed to be austere about and where we were making some of our decisions, we really tried not to affect the classroom," Assistant Superintendent for Finance Dave Holm said. "So that was a driving force and our mission throughout the entire process."

The recommendation presented to the board Monday night focused on six areas: increasing revenue, delaying expenditures, increasing operational efficiencies, examining staffing levels, reviewing health benefit claims and cutting several program costs.

Some of the 30 items in the plan include consolidating high school courses with lower enrollments; reducing operations and maintenance spending by 25 percent; slowing the technology replacement program; auditing health benefit claims; minimally increasing building and facility rental fees and eliminating six positions in the central office.

Board President Curt Bradshaw said he was happy to see savings measures spread across all areas of the district.

"When a family balances their budget, everyone sacrifices a bit here and there and this plan is very similar," Bradshaw said. "There's not one area where you'll see a traumatic impact, so I think they've done a great job making sure any sacrifices that are there are spread amongst the district."

While Holm was praised for erasing a $6.5 million deficit through similar measures to produce a balanced budget this year, he said repeating the task won't be easy.

"This process is really phase two, because phase one of cutting costs really relates to the current year," Holm said. "We had a $6.5 million deficit projection about a year ago for this year, and through our process, we were able to bring that to a balanced budget. But it's important to note that the low-hanging fruit has been picked and each time we go through this, it gets more challenging."

While saving where possible will be key, Holm said it's equally important for the district to continue bringing in new revenue.

"We're particularly interested in what we can do with building rental, because we think there's some opportunities there," he said. "We need to look at the fees themselves, and we also need to see if there's a way to take these assets that the community helped pay for and leverage them for additional revenue."

Holm said the plan will keep the district afloat for the near future, and predicted a slow housing market rebound also may aid the district.

"I would say that with these reductions - most of which are not one-year wonders - they're reductions that continue on as we go forward," Holm said. "We'll be pretty well set for at least the next few years."

Revenue enhancements:

• Use carry-over dollars from federal and state grants where available

• Minimally increase registration fees, including preschool tuition

• Moderately increase building rental fees

• Review building rental program's fee structure

• Promote use of school facilities

Delay expenditures:

• Reduce operations and maintenance capital outlay by 25 percent for one year

• Slow technology replacement program

• Delay new textbook adoption by one year

Operational efficiencies:

• Reduce central office department budgets

• Renew emphasis on energy management

• Reduce mailings, copying and paper usage

• Eliminate underutilized software licenses

• Increase efficiency in electronic tests and scoring

Staffing efficiencies:

• Austere approach toward compensation and contract negotiation

• Increase class size by one at middle schools and high schools

• Assign elementary interventionist by need

• Consolidate high school classes with low enrollments

• Reduce central office staffing by six full-time employees

Health benefit efficiencies:

• Consider plan efficiency changes researched by insurance committee

• Conduct dependent eligibility audit

• Use health claims review service to eliminate ineligible claims

Program efficiencies:

• Evaluate and reduce extracurricular stipend assignments

• Reduce lawn-maintenance schedules

• Reduce curriculum-writing projects

• Secure alternative funding for the Fine Arts Festival, which already has been done

• Discontinue Atomic Learning online subscription

• Reduce online learning budget

• Narrow recruitment effort

• Eliminate Prism VIP and real estate agent tour events

Here is the beginning - and easy now to cut the on line learning budget - we have PLENTY of space to put HS students

[doctorwho]

Dec 8, 2009 14:53:32 GMT -6 macrockett said:

www.suburbanchicagonews.com/napervillesun/news/1926389,D204-works-to-balance-budget_na120709.article#


D204 works to balance budget
Comments

December 8, 2009
By KATHY CICHON [e-mail]

Cost-cutting actions stretching across all areas will help Indian Prairie School District 204 eliminate its $9.2 million deficit in next year's budget — measures that include the elimination of some positions, consolidation of classes and delaying some expenditures.

But the effects of the plan on students, school officials said Monday, will be minimal.

"When a family balances their budget, everyone sacrifices a bit here and there," board President Curt Bradshaw said. "And this plan is very similar. There's not one area where you'll see a dramatic impact."

The $9.2 million shortfall in the 2011 budget is attributed to several revenue challenges, said Dave Holm, assistant superintendent for business. Those include property taxes capped at the overall consumer price index for the calendar year, which in 2008 was 0.1 percent; fewer state dollars for education funding; no more federal stimulus funds and slowing new property growth.

Members of the Citizens Financial Advisory Committee worked with school officials to look for ways to close the gap. In addition, the district solicited ideas from the public and received nearly 200 suggestions for cost-cutting.

"I think we ended up with cost reductions the cabinet feels confident in that we can move forward and maintain the district's level of quality in terms of our academic program moving forward," Holm said.

If the recommendations are implemented as suggested for 2011, the district expects to go into 2012 and 2013 in sound fiscal condition.

"With these reductions — most of which are not one-year wonders, they're reductions that continue on as we go forward — we'll be pretty well set for the next couple of years," Holm said.

While no action was taken by the board Monday, administrators presented the board with its recommendations. Six categories will help the district close the gap, school officials said. Those include revenue enhancements; delaying expenditures; and efficiencies in operations, staffing, health benefits and programs.

"There are parts of this that we'll probably ask the board to make sooner rather than later," Superintendent Kathy Birkett said. "And there are parts of this that can wait."

A big part of what's next, she said, is looking at the association contracts for both certified and classified staff, which are up this year.

Birkett said officials focused on the students in their recommendations in order to "affect the classroom very minimally.

"That was a driving force," she said. "That was our mission throughout the entire process."

Students at the middle and high school level will see their class size grow by one student, which officials estimate will result in about 20 fewer teaching positions.

"It is minimal, and just with our general attrition, we believe it will have minimal impact," Birkett said. "We lose enough teachers just by moving, family situation, etc. that we expect that to have minimal impact."

In addition, classes at the high school level with low enrollments will be consolidated.

"The kids have to register before we know what that impact is," Birkett said.

At the district's central office, six full-time positions will also be eliminated, with some of those eliminations coming through attrition as well, she said.

Capital outlay for operations and maintenance will be reduced by 25 percent for one year, technology replacement will be slowed and textbook adoption will be delayed by one year. Other measures include reduction in mailings, copying, paper usage and lawn maintenance. Officials also plan to evaluate and reduce extracurricular stipend assignments.

Revenue enhancements call for a minimal increase in registration fees, including pre-school tuition.

"Like everyone else, we'd rather not increase fees as much as we can avoid them," Holm said. "… We're certainly not going to go very high in that arena."

The district also plans a moderate increase in building rental fees, along with promoting use of school facilities.

"We're particularly interested in what we can do with building rental. We think there's some opportunity there," Holm said. "Not all of our facilities get rented as often as we'd like them to be."

Board members praised staff's effort in drafting the recommendations.

"They have done a tremendous job developing a plan that can balance the budget while really minimizing the impact to students. We owe it to our taxpayers to live within our means just as they're striving to do," Bradshaw said. "… It's not some draconian we're going to reduce the budget by 3 percent across the board; it's much more strategic than most plans you see."

A complete copy of the recommendations is available on District 204's Web site at www.ipsd.org.

We owe it to our taxpayers to live within our means just as they're striving to do,"


where was this thoiught process as we spent $150M we sure as heck did not need to -

[Arch]

Cut the online learning... Where you can have *ONE* teacher handling kids from ALL high schools...

Brilliant. Just Brilliant.

This was one thing this past semester that they GOT RIGHT.... Online Health this semester.. AWESOME... Simply AWESOME!!!!!!

D204 Admins (and certain school board members, you know who you are)... were you born idiots, or is it just a bad habit?

[Arch]

Don't fret.. we know you are just setting the stage for a tax hike to keep the decent stuff as you put it on the alter for sacrifice...

You're just following the script that we knew you would play. Thanks for not letting us down.


Darn, I've missed that SB member via Iphone posting lately...

[Arch]

What would be the annual yearly savings in the budget with the simple move of requiring those that currently pay $0.00 for health benefits to pay a meager $100 a month ... and what essential kid stuff mentioned above can that be put towards?

[macrockett]

www.boarddocs.com/il/ipsd/Board.nsf/files/89GMYG5D6F46/$file/State+Budget+Form+FY+2011+Final.pdf (final FY2011 Budget)