A 'Dangerous' Spending Trend In Elmhurst D-205?

ELMHURST, IL — The growth in certified staff at Elmhurst School District 205 has exceeded enrollment increases over the last decade — a trend that concerns at least one official.

Now, the district employs 711 certified staff, almost a hundred more than 10 years ago, when the number was 615. That's a hike of nearly 16 percent.

In the same time, enrollment increased 5 percent, to 8,563 as of last school year. A decade ago, the district's enrollment was 8,138.

This year's number of 711 is down from the previous year's 713. Assistant Superintendent Chris Whelton said that showed the district "really held the line."

At Tuesday's school board meeting, member Jim Collins thanked the administration for its efforts to hold down the number in the last year.

But he pointed to the long-term trend. He estimated enrollment had grown about 200 in the last decade, which he said meant the district gained a new certified staff member for every two additional students.

"That trend is dangerous to our budget," Collins said. "We can't keep adding staff at that rate and stay solvent. I would be very happy if this were a graph of student achievement in that time frame, but I suspect it's not. We need to reconcile enrollment with staff and with student achievement."

Board member Athena Arvanitis disagreed.

"We have to remember that the amount of resources needed to support our kids today is even more than a decade ago," said Arvanitis, an assistant principal at New Trier High School. "It's not isolated to Elmhurst. The pain is shared by other districts."

She said she doesn't think staffing necessarily correlates to enrollment.

"It's much deeper than that," Arvanitis said. "We want to take a holistic approach to students and what they need. That's what our community expects."

Member Karen Stuefen said the district has seen a big increase in its property tax base, which pays for more than 80 percent of school operations. But she said the good economic trend could end.

"There's only so much new construction we can do," she said. "We have to think about things like that."

At its meeting, Whelton told the board that out of 385 unit districts in Illinois, Elmhurst ranked 380th for administrative costs per student. That means the local district spends less on administration than most.

Arvanitis said that number looks "pretty good," but it may also indicate that the district is missing something.