D-34 Presents FY19 Tentative Budget

GLENVIEW, IL — The Glenview District 34 Board of Education had its first chance Monday to review a tentative version of next year's budget, as Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Eric Miller presented a draft budget to board members. Final approval is not expected until the fall following a public hearing process, according to a release. The district projected $68 million in operating revenues, with operating expenditures of $600,000 more.

Miller said that district administrators had done substantial work to find ways to save money, reducing the deficient by more than $1 million in next year's budget. The ongoing work will "continue to result in a more positive financial future" for the district, the release said.

“We took a hard look at our budget development process in an effort to identify operational efficiencies," Miller said. "The goal was to find ways in which we could maintain the same levels of service but at a lesser cost, and we emerged with a more focused and strategic approach to our spending that is much more aligned with the needs of our organization."

Some of the cost-saving measures identified by the administrators include issuing new, lower-cost bids for service contracts, like waste and recycling, arranging joint bids with other government agencies for other services, like transportation for special education students, and outsourcing the district's larger scale printing needs.

The budget anticipates a reduction in students and staff, along with "a more strategic deployment." It proposes cutting about 26 staff members from the district's payroll.

Next year's operating expenditures were calculated based on board-approved staffing allocation, anticipated student enrollment, approved instructional programming and planned capital projects.

Projected revenues were based on the estimated 2017 tax levy extension, student fees, increased state funding and flat federal funding.

The budget will be refined by staff over the course of the next month before it is posted online for public viewing, the district said. Members of the community will be able to provide input over the course of a public hearings, which is usually scheduled in September. The board will take action on a final draft of the budget following that process.