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A deficit budget at PHS Haring: ‘We will continue to monitor all areas of the budget’ By Donna Barker dbarker@bcrnews.com
PRINCETON — Princeton High School is looking at a deficit budget for Fiscal Year 2015. PHS Superintendent Kirk Haring presented the proposed FY ‘15 budget at Wednesday’s school board meeting, noting
the district is projecting total revenue in all funds of $7,306,520 and total expenses in all funds of $7,800,696, resulting in a deficit of $494,176. Haring said this is a worst case scenario budget with a lot of things still to be ironed out at the state level as far as school funding. The education fund, the largest fund
for the school district, shows the largest deficit at $735,476. “But once again, we will try to find as many ways as we possibly can to bring that deficit down,” the superintendent said. “We will continue to monitor all areas of the budget to assure we maintain financial stability.” On Tuesday, Haring said the district has an unaudited FY 2014 fund balance of $6,584,288. Following the superin-
tendent’s budget review, the board voted to place the proposed FY ‘15 budget on file and set a public hearing on the budget for 5:45 p.m. Sept. 29, prior to the next monthly board meeting. In other business at Wednesday’s meeting, Principal Andy Berlinski presented the ACT college readiness report for the 2013-14 year. PHS continues to have very strong scores with the composite score for 2013 at 21.1
and the composite score for 2014 at 21.3. The state average for 2013 was 20.6; the state average for 2014 was 20.7. Beginning in 2013, the ACT began to include the scores of special education students in the report, Berlinski said. Prior to 2013, special education students were not included in the testing. Illinois is one of 12 states in which all students take the ACT, Haring said.
Also, the school board approved the purchase of portable bleachers for the north end zone of the football field, at a low bid of $31,800 from Century Industries. The company is providing temporary bleachers in the end zone until the permanent ones can be built and installed, which will hopefully be in time for the second home football game, Haring said.
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Attempting to ‘right the ship’ Figuring the numbers for FY 2015 at BV By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
MANLIUS — The Bureau Valley School District’s tentative budget for Fiscal Year 2015 is currently showing a $850,000 deficit. Superintendent Steve Endress reviewed the numbers with board members at Tuesday evening’s meeting. He reported revenues are expected to decrease by about $300,000 compared to last year’s budget, due mostly to declining general state aid, which comes from slightly lower average daily attendance. He also pointed out a final payment from the state was actually on time last fiscal year, which was unexpected and made the numbers from last fiscal year look better than they actually were. On the expense side, Endress is expecting to see about a $300,000 increase in expenses compared to last year’s budget. The increase is due mostly because of teachers’ contracts and the added salaries of Endress and BV Assistant Superintendent Gavin Sronce. On a positive note, Endress explained he is in the preliminary stages of trying to capture additional state aid for the transportation fund. He said there could be a slight change next month when the board approves the
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BCR photo/Goldie Currie
Gov. Pat Quinn holds up his commemorative shirt during Spring Valley’s grand opening celebration for JFK School’s new addition Thursday evening. The event drew hundreds of community members, all eager to tour the new building. Superintendent Jim Hermes pointed out that on Aug. 28, 1966, exactly 48 years ago on the same day, the Spring Valley community held a grand opening for the new JFK School.
Opening the new doors to learning JFK holds open house to showcase new addition By Goldie Currie gcurrie@bcrnews.com
SPRING VALLEY — The rain and thunder may have put a damper on things Thursday evening, but it certainly didn’t hold back the enthusiasm felt during the grand opening ceremony of John F. Kennedy’s new school addition. More than 350 attendees packed into the addition’s new multi-purpose room, where they eagerly awaited to take their first tour through the new building.
Superintendent Jim Hermes talked briefly about the project construction and was followed by statements from State Rep. Frank Mautino and later on, Gov. Pat Quinn, who was delayed by the weather. The $16 million school addition includes $12 million from Quinn’s
Illinois Jobs Now! program and $4 million from the school district. The 30 classroom, one-story middle school addition will accommodate 648 students in fifth through eighth grades. Hermes said the addition will positively impact students and the community for many years to come.
“The district has an obligation to be prudent with our resources, while also attaining the high standard that is expected of Spring Valley Elementary,” he said. “We are excited about the new addition, but we know our greatest accomplishment must be to continue educating students with the passion and dedication that we have always exhibited.” Allied Design Inc. designed and Williams Brothers Construction built the state-of-the-art, energy efficient school building. Pre-cast walls, double-pane windows, LED lighting, geo-thermal heating and cooling and skylights are just a few of the energy efficient and cost-saving measures taken by the district.
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