The District #202 Board of Education met Monday night for their June meeting where they discussed and later approved an amended budget for the fiscal year 2018.
District Superintendent Steve Wilder presented the board with updated figures on the district’s finances which sees a deficit of $182,094 .
Compared with the budget he presented in September, the amended budget saw a decrease in expenses of almost $6,000.
It was noted by the budget did include the final payment for the working cash bonds for the Mable Woolsey HVAC project, which had actually been done last year.
Taking away those payments, and tax revenue to pay for them, the budget actually gives the district a surplus of $7,906 .
The amended FY18 budget saw a decrease in revenue of $25,000 – which Wilder attributed to the denial of some grants.
He added that next year’s state budget will see about $50M added to education funding. He said that while the general state aid increased by $165,000 in the last year, he expects to see a little more in the next year.
Discussion also took place regarding job vacancies and the teacher shortage in Illinois. A handful of resignations were accepted as part of the board’s consent agenda.
Like many school district’s that WGIL has reported on in the last year, administrators are finding it increasingly difficult to find applicants to apply.
Superintendent Wilder reiterated the difficulties #202 has had in getting applicants for openings.
“You guys have heard me say this before. The teacher shortage is very, very real,” Wilder told the board. “We have multiple special education positions that we’ve gotten zero applicants for.”
Discussion also took place regarding legislation put forward to the Governor that would increase the starting wage in all school district’s in the state to $40,000 by 2022.
Wilder said that the district is not far from that right now, but added that this legislation would be devastating to some districts.
