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Fieldcrest Board ponders options to deal with budget crisis

Wednesday, April 27, 2016 - Posted 10:07:30 PM
Fieldcrest Superintendent Dr. Dan Oakley gave a grim assessment of how the State of Illinois' budget crisis could plunge the school district into debt.  Dr. Oakley said the budget crisis is the result of an impasse between Governor Bruce Rauner and State Representative and House Leader Michael Madigan which has left the State without a budget for 10 months and a budget deficit of over $10 billion.

Dr. Oakley said a PTELL (Property Tax Extension Law Limit) is being considered which if passed will cause the school district to lose $100,000 in the first year and probably more in future years as the result of limiting the increase in property taxes.  Even worse is a formula by Governor Rauner to cut State spending that would result in a loss of $156,000 to the school in the first year while many suburban and wealthy counties could end up making money from the Governor's formula.  

Rep. Madigan has been on record favoring the shifting of the State's funding share of teacher pensions to the local school districts which would cost Fieldcrest an additional $400,000 a year.

Dr. Oakley said if the State does not have a budget by 2017, the school district could end up losing $2 to $3 million dollars a year in State funding.  He said the school district most likely will not receive its 4th categorical payment of $250,000 due this year and probably will never get it.

Dr, Oakley said the school district has ended in the black for FY15 by $100,000.  If the State sends its promised dollars, the district will end up in the black by $200,000 to $300,000.  However, it will not be known until June if the money will be paid.  He said the board has worked hard to keep the school in the black but the State is making it difficult to stay in the black since the school has no way of knowing how much money they will be receiving from the State.  

Dr. Oakley said difficult decisions will have to be made in the future that are the result of the inequality between rural and city schools.  He said the school will have $7,000,000 in property taxes in the bank and a monthly expense of $650,000 that has to be stretched out over the year.  He said if the State continues to operate without a budget and withholds payments for the schools, there are 4 options the school can take.

A - Start school as normal, borrow to finish school as needed,
B - Start school as normal, close doors when money for anything other than salaries/benefits are gone.
C - Do not start school until there is a budget.
D - Have a one day or one week delay to protest.

Dr. Oakley asked board members to choose an option they prefer.  Board member Tammi Coons said to use option D to express our protest and then go with option A.  

Board member Greg Kroschen suggested the school cut back on school days by starting later and ending earlier to save on utility costs.  Dr. Oakley said the school cannot shorten the number of days by state law.  Board President Joe Kirkpatrick asked "Why should we worry about breaking state law."  Our job is to educate our children.  What can the State do to us if we choose to run the school our way?

Board member Scott Hillenburg said the school should start at its normal time as he doesn't like to disrupt the school's system.  He said after the election things could change and a budget could be approved.  If there is no improvement by next Spring, then take action.

Board member Tom Barth said the schools should make a run to Springfield to protest but agreed with Mr. Hillenburg that schools should start on a normal schedule.

Board member Danielle Reichman said the school should scrap mandates the school doesn't need that won't hurt the students so as to cut expenses.  Dr. Oakley said the Board would have to approve the cuts to mandates and then order him to implement them as he does not want to violate state laws.

Building Committee Recommendation

Dr. Oakley asked board members to select an option to go with the building project.  The options are listed below:

A - New building in Wenona and Minonk.
B.  Addition to current buildings in Wenona and Minonk saving parts of old buildings that can reasonably be saved.

Board President Joe Kirkpatrick chose option A as he said that is what is best for the students.  He said option B would require expensive use of temporary class rooms for the duration of construction.  Tammi Coons chose option A stating that the new building in Wenona could be built on the baseball field which is next to the old school.  Greg Kroeschen also chose option A.

Scott Hillenburg said he was not in favor of making a decision on the buildings until final cost estimates can be determined.  Tom Barth agreed saying that a decision can't be made until a final cost estimate is given by the Farnsworth Group.  Dr. Oakley said the engineers cannot come up with a final cost estimate until the board makes a decision on what type of building they want.  

Danielle Reichman said she didn't like either option and said the options were determined by too small of a poll to give a valid preference of what type of building action to take.  Dr. Oakley said his conversation with residents and city officials indicated there must be a building in each community which eliminated the option of having one central building location.

Dr. Oakley said plan A seems to be the consensus.  He indicated that something has to be put together and presented to the public.  He said "If it is shot down, then we go to plan B".

Attendance Centers

At the beginning of the board meeting, Wenona resident Jeremy Palm wanted to know what studies the administration used to determine the advantages of attendance centers.  He said his research showed that attendance centers did not show an overall improvement in education.  He asked that the board postpone attendance centers until building repairs are completed at the various school buildings.

Dr. Oakley presented his findings on research into attendance centers.

- No cost savings in such move.
- Designed to improve education of students.
- Received comments that cost savings need to be achieved if move to attendance centers.
- Need time to this analysis

The board agreed to pursue the option of moving to attendance centers.  Danielle Reichman suggested that instead of having K-2 at Fieldcrest South, 3-5 at West and 6 - 8 at East to instead have K - 4  at West and 5 - 8 at East.  She said this would result in having 1 school building in each community since Fieldcrest South would no longer be needed.  Tammi Coons and Greg Kroeschen agreed with Ms. Reichman.  

However, Tom Barth said he does not want to see Fieldcrest South closed down after the school spent over $1 million on an addition to the school 12 years ago.  Scott Hillenburg agreed saying it is best to go with the original plan of K - 2 at South, 3 - 5 at West and 6 -8 at East;  He said later on when a new building plan is completed would be the time to adjust the attendance center locations.  Joe Kirkpatrick agreed.

Dr. Oakley said he will do more analysis to finalize what the configuration would look like.

In other business the board approved the hiring of summer student workers and extra duty assignments, and approved the renewal of an affiliation with IHSA/IESA.  Dr. Oakley mentioned that due to increased State requirements to prove a student to be an ongoing threat, it will become more difficult to expel a student.