D113A Superintendent: 'SB 1 Will Have Catastrophic Impact on Lemont Schools'

Last fall, I issued a joint correspondence with Lemont High School District 210 Superintendent Dr. Mary Ticknor regarding Senate Bill 16, which recently was reintroduced as Senate Bill 1. We again want to warn you about the catastrophic impact of SB 1, which could result in a loss of nearly $2 million from our schools.

Governor Rauner has spoken at length about the concept of “sacrifice” – something your local school districts know well. We have held ourselves accountable to our taxpayers and community and learned to do more with less, while remaining high achieving districts.

District 113A made significant sacrifices as a result of its financial crisis in 2009, including eliminating 25 percent of our teaching staff, cutting all extra-curricular programs, and increasing our class sizes. It took significant effort to overcome these obstacles, but District 113A was taken off of financial watch last May, and recently received a perfect score on the state’s financial profile.

District 113A spends significantly less than the state average, both instructionally (almost $2,200 less per pupil) and operationally (almost $2,500 less per pupil). Our average instructional expenditure per pupil is less than $5,000; many districts spend more than twice that amount.

According to SB 1’s latest models, in the best case scenario, District 113A stands to lose $1,088,879 annually in state funding; District 210 will lose $614,000. As it is, we already receive only a prorated amount of General State Aid. Both school districts are heavily reliant on property taxes, but the state aid that we receive is just as vital in our budgets.

Such significant cuts in state financial aid will result in negative effects on the students we serve. District 113A would like to restore band and choir into the school day, bring back an elementary art teacher, and continue to reduce our class sizes. In most school districts, these are basic, fundamental programs for students.

Losing more than $1 million in state aid will effectively shut the door on any chance of being able to bring back these basics to our district, let alone give us the opportunity to explore other fundamental programs such as full-day kindergarten, foreign language, and STEM enhancements. Lemont High School’s programming and opportunities for students also would be impacted significantly by such a decrease in state funding.

We support the notion that all Illinois school districts should be adequately and equitably funded. However, SB 1 in its current form will have a catastrophic impact on our students in Lemont.

—Dr. Courtney Orzel

Superintendent, Lemont-Bromberek District 113A