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Wednesday, August 6, 2014
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D-428 is expecting a deficit
RAISING SUICIDE AWARENESS
Board gives 1st OK to budget $3.46M in red By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
Brett and Laura Bartosik lost their 20-year-old son, Seth Bartosik, to suicide in June. The Bartosiks and Seth’s friends have put together a weekend scavenger hunt. The money raised will be donated to a culinary student or hockey player in need. The Bartosiks will match the amount raised and donate to Suicide Prevention Services.
Honoring a ‘Sethtastic’ life Scavenger hunt set for this weekend to remember Cortland man Story by Katie Dahlstrom – kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com • Photos by Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com DeKALB – As Laura and Brett Bartosik struggled with their 20-year-old son’s suicide, a friend suggested holding a scavenger hunt that would bring people together to celebrate his life. The Cortland couple jumped at the chance to try to turn their pain into hope. To honor Seth Bartosik, a Cortland resident who took his own life June 26, friends and family are hosting the inaugural Sethtastic Scavenger Hunt spanning from Friday to Sunday. Participants will chase clues, talk to strangers and – in Seth’s spirit – be adventurous. Before Seth Bartosik died, friend Kyle Segura had been toying with the idea of having a scavenger hunt similar to one their group of friends held to celebrate graduating from DeKalb High School in 2012. “I wanted everybody to be together, not in sadness, but being happy and having fun,” Segura said.
Segura posed the scavenger hunt idea to Brett and Laura Bartosik during a story night at their house where more than a dozen of Seth Bartosik’s friends gathered to share their memories. “It’s something we knew Seth had enjoyed and we wanted to be a part of it,” said Laura Bartosik, 43. “We want the kids in our lives because Seth always called his friends his family. So we want to be part of that family even if Seth isn’t here.” The money raised through the scavenger hunt will be donated to a culinary student or hockey player in need. The Bartosiks will match whatever is raised to donate to Suicide Prevention Services. People also can make donations through their gofundme.com site, which can be found by searching the inaugural Sethtastic scavenger hunt.
See HONORING, page A6
IF YOU GO
n What: The Sethtastic Scavenger Hunt n When: 5 p.m. Friday to 3 a.m. Sunday, with an awards ceremony at 3 p.m. Sunday n Where: Follow the Sethtastic Scavenger Hunt on Facebook for information on opening and closing locations.
DeKALB – DeKalb District 428 is preparing to have a nearly $3.5 million operating deficit in the coming school year, but that could change with some action from the state. During the school board meeting Tuesday, school board members gave their first nod to a tentative $76.7 million financial plan, although Assistant Superintendent of Business and Finance Andrea Gorla stressed the budget figures can change. “They’re projections and estimates, but to the best of our ability from the information we received from the state and federal government,” Gorla said. In total, District 428’s budget includes close to $73.3 million in operating revenue and $76.7 million in operating expenditures. Board
members will take a final vote on the budget in September. Of the district’s deficit, $1.1 million stems from projects the district will fund using some of its $21 million construction grant. Absent these one-time expenses, the district’s actual operating deficit is nearly $2.4 million. The deficit would be entirely wiped out, Gorla explained, if state officials funded general state aid at 100 percent. The state last year gave districts 88.7 percent of general state aid, the funding the state provides to offset the district’s basic $6,119 cost per student. This year, District 428 officials have set their budget presuming the district will receive 85 percent of general state aid, or about $14.2 million. Every 1 percent of general state aid equals $167,000 for the district.
See D-428, page A6
IF YOU NEED HELP Call Suicide Prevention Services at 800-273-8255.
ON THE WEB Laura and Brett Bartosik talk about the loss of their son in a video online at Daily-Chronicle. com.
Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
DeKalb County Sgt. Tim Duda and patrol dog, Odin, put on a demonstration Tuesday during National Night Out in DeKalb.
National Night Out event held in DeKalb By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com
LEFT: A couple of days after their son’s death, the Bartosiks got tattoos in his honor. TOP RIGHT: Laura Bartosik stands with a poster board full of photos that was displayed at Seth Bartosik’s memorial service. Bartosik lost her son to suicide in June. Seth was 20 years old. BOTTOM RIGHT: Brett Bartosik and Laura Bartosik have said the importance of stories from friends, videos and voice mails of Seth Bartosik has been immeasurable.
DeKALB – DeKalb resident Megan Zamora just happened to be shopping for school supplies Tuesday at Target when she noticed multiple tents and a bounce house in the parking lot. After shopping for new backpacks and supplies for her 9- and 4-year-old daughters, Zamora took the girls to the National Night Out gathering, where local law enforcement and businesses offered activities and demonstrations for families. Zamora and her daughters stopped by tents manned by the Red Cross, Big Brothers Big Sisters organization, Feed ‘Em Soup and the DeKalb Public Library. She
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also got to see members of the DeKalb police, Northern Illinois University police and DeKalb County sheriff agencies. “It’s nice for them to be seen and for the kids to meet them in a more personal way,” she said. Tuesday was the 31st year that National Night Out, an event that promotes safety, was held across the U.S. The event began in 1984 to promote crime prevention activities and police-community partnerships, according to the National Night Out website. Locally, it was DeKalb police Lt. James McDougall’s fourth time at the event. At his first National Night Out
See NIGHT OUT, page A6
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