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Serving DeKalb County since 1879
Monday, August 12, 2013
VOLUNTEERING • LOCAL, A3
NIU FOOTBALL • SPORTS, B1
Running back impresses during first scrimmage
NIU’s Cameron Stingily
Group cleans up DeKalb property
District 428 aims to fix deficit Board tasks committee with helping to find ways to close $2.7 million gap By CHRIS BURROWS cburrows@shawmedia.com DeKALB – After the state legislature passed a budget that will pay school districts 89 percent of what they should receive in state aid, DeKalb School District 428 still is looking for a way to close its $2.7 million budget deficit. The latest revisions to the 2013-14 budget, which the district’s Board of Education approved for public review on Aug. 6, account for an additional $692,493 in state aid, because the district had previously projected the state to further cut its aid rate to 83 percent – a move the state
didn’t make. However, an assortment of additional expenditures all but erased the boost in funds. The district now expects to spend $115,000 on fees related to the Affordable Care Act, which goes into effect Jan. 1, as well as an additional $500,000 that will go toward private placement tuition for special education students. Andrea Gorla, the district’s assistant superintendent for business and finance, said that even though the state has committed to paying 89 percent, it hasn’t always worked out in the past. “We’re pretty much betting on the full 89 percent,” Gorla said. “So
D-428’s proposed 2013-14 budget by the numbers Projected revenue: $69,486,195 Projected expenditures: $72,233,485 Projected deficit: $2,747,290 Projected fund balance (including construction grant) for end of 2013-14: $21,284,598
if they do something different, that just tips us further upside down.” In the meantime, the district has not had to file a deficit reduction plan because it still has a projected
fund balance of $24.6 million, which includes the $21 million construction grant that the district received in 2011. The board tasked its Finance and Facility Advisory Committee, which is composed of community members and district staff, with helping to find ways to close the gap, but that hasn’t been an easy task. “That’s the $2.7 million question,” School Board President Tom Matya said. “It’s a challenge not only for us, but for school districts across the state. We have to hope that there’s a turnaround with the state and local economy.”
MESSAGE OF DISPLACEMENT
Further budget implications could come from the district’s teachers, who still are in negotiations with the district to work out a new contract. Under the current budget, teacher’s salaries and benefits together account for three quarters of all expenditures. “There’s not a lot of low-hanging fruits, because we’ve already made reductions in staff throughout the district,” Gorla said. “Anything else would be most impactful on the students, so we’ve refrained from doing that right now.” The Board of Education will make its final vote on the budget Sept. 17.
Advocates of immigration try to corner GOP support By ERICA WERNER The Associated Press
of cardboard boxes served as their shelter from the elements for the night.
BEL AIR, Md. – Immigration advocates are swarming the country this month, trying to persuade House Republicans to pass a comprehensive overhaul. It was hard to tell at the town-hall meeting that second-term Republican Rep. Andy Harris held recently in this town northeast of Baltimore. The overflow crowd in the board of commissioners meeting room was overwhelmingly white and older, and booed loudly when one audience member asked Harris to support a path to citizenship for immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. Loud applause Andy Harris followed as Harris shot the idea down, calling it “a nonstarter” that’s “not going anywhere fast” in the House. “The bottom line is there are plenty of immigration laws on the books,” Harris said. “The House is in no rush to take up immigration.” Harris, a 56-year-old physician and the son of Eastern European immigrants, is in a safe GOP district with few Latino voters, and he’s not on target lists drawn up by immigration proponents. So it’s no surprise that advocates wouldn’t be out in force at his events. Yet his position is far from unique. For all the effort that business and labor groups, activists and others who support action on immigration say they’re pouring into making themselves heard during Congress’ five-week summer recess, there are scores of House Republicans who are hearing very little of the clamor. These lawmakers are insulated in safe districts where immigration activists don’t bother to venture, or so hardened in their positions that no one’s even trying to change their minds. “Most of the energy is being spent on the folks who are gettable,” said Frank Sharry, executive director of America’s Voice, a pro-immigrant group. “We’re not spending a lot of time on Republicans who are clearly going to vote ‘no.’ ”
See REFUGEES, page A4
See IMMIGRATION, page A4
Randy Stukenberg for Shaw Media
Stephanie Dawkins of DeKalb talks about her experiences resettling refugees with World Relief of Aurora before the Mock Refugee event Sunday in Genoa. Participating in the event were 115 youth from six churches in Genoa.
Area teens spend night in cardboard boxes as many refugees do By CHRIS BURROWS cburrows@shawmedia.com GENOA – Last week Amanda Anderson sent her dad to Lowe’s for a cardboard refrigerator box. Not a refrigerator, just the box. “I just wanted a big enough box to be able to sleep in,” Anderson said. “Something comfortable.” Rachel Hughes made a trip to Paulsen Appliances in Sycamore for one of her own. The Genoa teens were part of a countywide run on cardboard boxes over the past few days as they prepared for a night spent in the shoes of a refugee. All 115 of the teens met up Sunday night in the parking lot of Custom Aluminum for Displace Me, an event organized by six churches in Genoa, Kingston and Kirkland to raise awareness for the plight of refugees around the world and to forge bonds that organizers hope carry over into the new school year. “We’ve done a lot of work with the homeless and different immigration groups, so I thought this is one thing that really we haven’t touched on,” said organizer Kris Aves, of Faith United Methodist
Randy Stukenberg for Shaw Media
Ashley Grimm (from left to right), Carinna Corbett and Tommy Corbett, both of Genoa, carry their shelter for the night during the Mock Refugee event Sunday in Genoa. Church in Genoa.” We wanted to have unity, because a lot of these kids go to different churches, and they don’t really know who goes to what church.”
The teens donned fluorescent yellow-green T-shirts, and split into groups for a night filled with events meant to simulate the perspective of a refugee. An outdoor encampment
Inside today’s Daily Chronicle Lottery Local news Obituaries
A2 A2-4 A4
National and world news Opinions Sports
Weather A2, A4 A9 B1-3
Advice Comics Classified
B4 B5 B6-8
High:
81
Low:
60