Schools
Gower School District Approves 2011-12 Budget, Deficit Of $72,000 Projected
Superintendent says the deficit was not unexpected, but expects the shortfall to be offset by existing fund balances.
Even though the $13.5 million budget for 2011-2012 shows a projected deficit of nearly $72,000, officials are not worried.
“Our history has said we have not run a deficit since 2003. We build fund balances,” Superintendent Steve Griesbach said Tuesday. “So my bet is we will end the year in the black.”
Griesbach presented the budget during a public hearing Tuesday night. No members of the public spoke. Later in the evening, the Board of Education unanimously approved the budget. The budget shows $13,489,778 in revenue and $13,561,564 in expenditures, leaving a difference of $71,786.
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The deficit is not unexpected, Griesbach said, as additional dollars were allocated for professional development, resources, software and resources to help prepare for common core and 21st Century Skills. The shortfall, he said, will generally be offset by other funds.
“We have existing fund balances that allow us to cover that cost with the money that we have accrued over the years with prudent financial planning and being smart about how we spend our money,” he said.
And if the district doesn’t use the contingency funds budgeted, it will cover the difference, he said.
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The education fund is the largest portion of the budget at $10.3 million. Approximately 83 percent of those funds are salary and benefits.
“The largest expenditure we have is the teaching of the student,” Griesbach said.
Also budgeted are a little over $1 million each for operation and maintenance and bond and interest funds , $557,250 for transportation, $371,210 for the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and Social Security and $139,178 for tort immunity.
District 62’s fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30.
In other district news, the board briefly reviewed Illinois Standards Achievements Test (ISAT) results.
“This year we had the highest overall score for meets and exceeds in the district we’ve ever had,” said Assistant Superintendent Joan DuChane.
Overall, 96.6 percent of students meet and exceed standards in math, reading and science. In the seventh grade, 100 percent of students meet or exceed in math, repeating what they did last year in sixth grade, she said.
“Our students worked hard to do well on these tests,” DuChane said.
In addition, the district met its Adequate Yearly Progress targets, she said.
