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Serving Bureau County Since 1847
Saturday, March 19, 2016
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Money woes for Hall
District in danger of running out of money by June By Becky Kramer news@bcrnews.com
SPRING VALLEY — Superintendent Mike Struna provided an in-depth report on the issue of school funding at the Hall High School Board meeting, held Wednesday, March 16. Struna explained the state began prorating the payments that schools were supposed to receive back in
2010. The rate has varied from 98 percent to the past few years when it was 89 percent. Furthermore the state has been allotting $6,119 per student since 2010, though the foundation level should be $8,899 per student. Schools are not only receiving prorated payments but also $2,000 less per child than what is actually needed to provide an education.
Transportation grants have been reduced from $173,267 in 2010 to approximately $60,000 (if Hall receives the two additional payments that are expected) in Fiscal Year 2016. Special education funding has also been severely impacted since 2010, when Hall received $183,513; in 2016, Hall has received $62,392. Overall in 2010 Hall received $1.7 million in state revenue and last year only $1.1 million. Struna stressed Hall began cutting expenditures
in 2011 and has continued to do so since. “We have done a great job tightening the belt every year, but the problem lies with funding both locally and state,” he said. During last month’s meeting, Struna indicated he would be asking the board to make significant budget cuts at Wednesday’s meeting. After some careful consideration, it was decided to postpone these cuts until later in the school year. Struna said, “I felt the community needed additional information to understand
how we came to be in this situation.” Residents are quick to blame the new $32 million building for all of Hall’s budget problems. Board member Mike Morris said, “I’ve heard people say maybe we shouldn’t have built a new school.” Morris then said the new building and the budget problems are unrelated. One area of good news is the new building is saving the district a substantial amount of money in heating and maintenance costs. Hall is in serious danger
of running out of money in June. Struna explained by not receiving all of the money so far this year, there will most likely not be enough money to pay bills. As a short term solution, Struna asked the board to approve setting up a Tax Anticipation Fund through Spring Valley City Bank. This line of credit is available for Hall to use at a 3.5 percent interest rate and will be repaid as soon as tax money is received. This type of loan does not raise taxes.
Hall Page 3
State $$$ on SVE’s mind Board looks at state budget impasse By Becky Kramer news@bcrnews.com
Eating like a pig ... BCR photo/Dave Cook
Princeton FFA member Aaron Sears’ piglet seemed to finish its bottle in record time during the 22nd annual Bureau County Ag Fair held on Thursday, March 17 at the Bureau County Fairgrounds in Princeton. Sponsored by the Bureau County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee, fourth-grade students from throughout the county took part in the efficiently run event that provided an educational look at 14 different areas of Illinois agriculture. See more photos on Page 2 and our story in an upcoming edition of Ag Matters.
SPRING VALLEY — The Spring Valley Elementary Board met in regular session on Wednesday, March 16, and like nearly every other district in the area, the state budget impasse weighed heavy on the board’s mind. The state budget impasse and school funding is at the top of concerns for school officials all across Illinois. Superintendent Jim Hermes attended an Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) meeting last week where consultant Rich Voltz painted a dismal picture for school funding. Voltz advised the administrators to prepare for the worse case scenario which would be that without a state budget, schools would not receive any general state aid (GSA) payments. This year prekindergarten through 12th-grade schools continued to receive payments even without a state budget. Hermes said, “Hopeful-
ly the state budget will be passed, and we won’t have to face this.” Beginning in 2010 the state started prorating the GSA payments. In 2016, SVE anticipates receiving $1,353,000 less than the amount the state owes. “State aid money keeps us afloat. We don’t generate enough local revenue,” Hermes said. Hermes showed the board a budget with no state revenue for Fiscal Year 2017. The education fund which has a nice rainy day reserve of $2.5 million would end FY ‘17 with a deficit of $717,000. The good news for Illinois school districts is that Gov. Bruce Rauner wants to end proration, increase early childhood funding, and continue to fund Safe and Alternative Schools, but this scenario is not being passed in Springfield. In the systems report, Hermes explained the maintenance staff is continuing to work with the contractors
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A Salute to Ag
Chamber-sponsored event brings out the best in agriculture By Goldie Rapp grapp@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — The second annual Salute to Agriculture event, sponsored by the Princeton Chamber of Commerce and First Farm Credit Services, brought together the area’s ag leaders, both young and old, Wednesday, March 16, at Wise Guys in Princeton. The event announced the winners of the annual agricultural art contest, which invites all third and fourth-graders around the county to participate in Year 170 No. 34 Two Sections - 24 Pages
© Bureau County Republican
a placemat design contest for the Salute to Ag event. This year’s theme for the contest was, “I can’t go a day without agriculture,” which encouraged students to think about all the ways agriculture impacts their daily lives — from the food they eat to the clothes they wear. Of the 178 entries from around the county, third-grader Emille Merkel of Lincoln Elementary in Princeton won Best of Show and third-grader Camryn Heiden from John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Spring Valley won Design
Closest to the Theme. Representatives from three local FFA chapters also had the opportunity to reflect on the accomplishments and activities their chapter has taken part in so far this school year, along with the future happenings for their chapter. Speakers were Kaitlyn Hildebrand, vice president of the LaMoille FFA Chapter; Chase Gripp, president of the Bureau Valley FFA Chapter and Jacob Bickett, president of the Princeton FFA chapter.
Agriculture Page 4
BCR photo/Goldie Rapp
Keynote speaker Kenneth McMillan