Thursday April 2, 2015 Vol. 3, No. 6
The Weekly Post
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Area school financing takes another hard hit By BILL KNIGHT
The Illinois General Assembly last week passed a stopgap measure to address a $1.6 billion budget shortfall through June, and its 2.25 percent, across-the-board cuts include more reductions to education – on the heels of new findings that show previous funding woes have hit schools hard. School finances are so shaky that the area school district with the best Financial Profile ranking – WilliamsFor The Weekly Post
Residents voice road complaints
field, with a perfect 4.00 – is deficit spending just like the other four districts in The Weekly Post area. (See box at right). Reacting to the stop-gap measure, the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) expressed apprehension. “While we understand the dire circumstances facing the state, we have grave concerns about these cuts and their impact to school districts, especially this late in the fiscal year,” says ISBE’s Mary Fer-
gus. “These districts have very little leeway to absorb these cut and make the necessary fiscal adjustments this late in the fiscal year given the spending pressures they’re already under.” The state’s school districts already show the burden of operating with fewer government funds, according to the ISBE, which recently showed that 64.2 percent of Illinois districts are projected to deficit-spend this school year. Fewer districts score at the
Local school financing School District
Brimfield Elmwood Farmington Princeville Williamsfield
Financial Profile
2015 budget deficit
Revenue % from state funding
3.70 - Recognition 3.55 - Recognition 3.65 - Recognition 3.45 - Review 4.00 - Recognition
$104,880 $447,403 $863,524 $586,051 $509,198
20.7 30.6 42.3 31.7 10.4
NOTE: Brimfield has improved from 2013, when it was under Review; Elmwood in 2003 was Early Warning; Farmington was under Review in 2006 and 2007, and Watch in 2005; Princeville is unchanged from Review status from 2013; and Williamsfield has been a perfect 4.00 since 2007, when its 3.65 was still determined a Recognition.
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SOURCE: Illinois State Board of Education
SAFE, WELL-FED HUNTERS
By BILL KNIGHT
The fate of what area residents for decades have dubbed “Breakneck Hill” may be at stake after a hearing Friday (March 27) before Peoria County Engineer Amy Benecke McLaren in response to three property owners on Greengold Road complaining about its condition. Represented by attorney Chester Fuller, rural neighbors Cheryl Harden, Mike Innes and Ron Nelson all testified that Greengold Road between Murphy Road and Illinois Route 116 north and east of Hanna City is in such bad shape it’s caused damage to vehicles, prevented companies from insuring homes because of inadequate access, and prevented Ameren from reading meters. In the evidence-gathering session, convened according to state law, Harden testified that Rosefield Township
By MICHELLE SHERMAN
For The Weekly Post
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Common goal for candidates in Farmington FARMINGTON – Continuing to provide Farmington students with a 21stcentury education is a common goal shared by the five candidates for Farmington Community Unit School District 265 Board of Education. At a Meet the Candidates forum on March 24, all five candidates – three incumbents and two newcomers – Election 2015 answered quesWrite-in canditions posed by dates vie for an members of the open spot on the audience of about Princeville School 40. Questions Board. Page 13. ranged from class sizes in grades K- Find your polling place to vote on 2 to school uniApril 7. Page 13. forms and from budget cuts to supporting the arts. Incumbents Kelly Threw, Dakota Horn and Todd Guidi all touted strides made in further integrating technology into classrooms and cutting-edge projects such as District 265’s solar panel project which is nearing completion as proof that they have served the community well during previous terms. “I want to make sure that we continue For The Weekly Post
From left to right, Cynthia Brewer, Phil Blackburn and Larry Kelch share a laugh while recognizing 30 years of Illinois hunter safety classes at the Kickapoo Sportsman’s Club. Photo by Jeff Lampe.
30 years of safer hunters By JEFF LAMPE
KICKAPOO – Hunters in Illinois attend safety classes each spring because they have to – and because they want to be safer in the field. But what draws flocks of people to safety classes at the Kickapoo Sportsman’s Club is the food and Weekly Post Staff Writer
the hospitality – hallmarks of a series of classes that last weekend celebrated 30 years at the club. The Kickapoo class is believed to be the fourthlongest running in Illinois and started during a conversation at the old Gilles Tap in Kickapoo. “We were sitting at Norma’s (Gilles Tap) and
started talking about how the NRA used to do safety classes,” Larry Kelch recalled. “After that, we started making some phone calls and...” Next thing he knew Kelch was in charge of the Peoria area’s most popular hunter safety classes. Since they started offering Continued on Page 11
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