001Again, [Music] oh [Music] hey [Music] Okay, we're going to get started. I like to start right on time. At 6:00, I'd like to call to order FY26 budget workshop number three. Can we have a roll call, please? >> She does. >> Miss Ramirez, >> it's >> Mr. Riddle, >> present. >> Mr. McBride, >> present. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing, Miss Fabian, >> present. President Rodriguez, >> present. Okay, we do have a quorum. Uh, next item on the agenda is public comment. Is there anybody here who would like to address the board for any reason whatsoever? Okay, moving on. Approval of minutes. Item four, approval of the meeting minutes for the June 3rd, 2025 budget workshop number two. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion approved by Mr. Riddle. Do we have a second?
002>> Second by Miss Hannah. Uh I just want to point out that this is something that I missed. >> The heading should not be budget workshop number two agenda. It should be minutes rather than agenda. That one got passed. All right. Any other comments, corrections on the minutes? Can we have a roll call vote, please? >> Miss Ramirez, >> yes. >> Mr. Riddle, >> yes. >> Mr. McBride, >> yes. >> Miss Hannah, >> yes. >> Miss Lensing. Miss Fabian, >> yes. >> President Rodriguez, >> yes. Motion carries. Minutes are approved. Okay, moving on. Item five, reports and presentations. Miss Pulk. >> Good evening everyone. Uh welcome to our budget workshop three, but we've uh added some additional information that we don't traditionally do to give you a finance update at the request of the superintendent
003based upon uh the fiscal climate of our country and the state. And so, uh, my team is here and they're going to present the information to you tonight. Great. >> Good evening, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen of the board, Superintendent Vencia, staff, and our viewing community, as well as those who are with us this evening. I'm Anderson Latimore. I serve as a district's budget analyst. Tonight as uh Miss Poke alluded to we have the entire team with us. Uh I will start you off followed by Mr. Chan, Mr. Losa and then Miss Pulk will be inserting herself in and out through the presentation to highlight some uh issues you feel uh important for you to uh note. I'll be speaking about financial processes of the district, how we stand visav ISBY in terms of our
004standing, some areas of highlight for our two divisions and also uh what we have done over the years in terms of how the finances of the district have have grown. Mr. Chen will follow talking a little bit about our budget process and speaking to the area of financial commitment, how we spend monies in the district. Mr. Losa will get into the nuts and bolts of revenues and expenditures uh specifically related to the next fiscal year which we are getting ready to adopt hopefully in September and it'll give you a financial picture from the late so uh late excuse me from the local state and uh federal perspective and then as I mentioned before Miss Pulk will be coming in and out uh the program to address issues of extreme importance. We are fortunate enough tonight
005to have Miss Elizabeth Hennessy who will be joining us by telephone who will be speaking near the end of our presentation about debt management. So that's an area that we've been very good with over the last several years as you know with bonds being passed and not raising taxes. So she will be speaking to that and then at the end if there are questions that are outstanding we'll have an opportunity for question and answer. The slide you have in front of you now represents the 2028 plan, the strategic plan. But there are four specific planks or pillars as we call them >> that the we want to make sure the community is aware of. First pillar is that of enhanced learning experiences for our students. Why? We want to maximize student learning. That's what we're
006about. Secondly, the pillar of facilitating family and community engagement. We value parents in our community as partners and we want to make sure they understand that and we want to stipulate that and that's why it's in our plan. Thirdly, we want children to have a safe and nurturing environment. That's curricularly, but also in terms of facilities. We spent a lot of money upgrading our facilities over the last several years and also in terms of cameras and things of that nature for safety. And the fourth pillar is something this district to its credit and I've been in like eight school systems. I have to take my hat off. This district is committed and has shown it commitment towards diversity. So that is a plank or a value system in our community as well as in our
007school district that we are very very proud about. Let me take for a moment to talk about three areas on the academic side that they are as a division drilling down on for the fourthcoming year. Literacy is the first that is for our monolingual as well as our bilingual students not just the literacy itself but also a vibrant curriculum. Next building capacity through our PLC's professional learning communities good sound solid professional development to increase the skill sets of our teachers and to build upon lessons learned for those who are very accomplished. And the also the third bullet is that of equity which I mentioned before is a foundational issue that we find in our district and we have valued in our district over what we have done over the last really decade. Moving on to
008the operations division, there are four areas they're going to laser focus on for this forthcoming year. First, human capital promotions and hiring free of bias. Next, continuing our strong recruitment efforts and finally equitable compensation for positions that people occupy. Visa be the market and visa be the K12 systems that we have to compete against. An area deer near to our heart in the business financial services area is fiscal uh resource management and accountability. Here we're looking at improving our strategic budgeting process. We've been doing that for about I guess by 2014 Miss Pope 10 12 years we've been doing this and it's gotten better and better every year and we want to continue that process because it does work. It's a m quantum leap over the old rollover methods we used to use in the
00990s and early 2000s. And then also looking at improving our schools by sustaining their efforts by having financial accountability. How do we spend our money? is probably accounted for. Our audits have been exceptional, which I'll note later. And also sustainability. We don't want to start projects start and stop. We want something that will last over time. So sustainability is a critical value in our financial profile. Third area is that of capital improvement. We have spent millions of dollars in terms of improving our facilities for our students safety as well as for comfort to increase learning. And the fourth area is called uh support systems and structures. We have one of two wraparound centers in the entire state of Illinois. That shows a strong partnership and a strong financial commitment on behalf of the district and
010community. We have community partners in our facility here just below us. This is just a wonderful opportunity that many communities wish they had. We have it and we're going to make the best of it. You have a slide in front of you. If there's nothing else that you pick up tonight, please community members who are watching this on TV, on YouTube, look at this. This is extremely important. We are going to be going through a budget process. We've had two budget meetings and a budget development committee that represents community members who act as critical friends with us. The superintendent's intent, no direct student support will be cut. That is our intent and that's what we're going to strive to do in this fourthcoming budget year. Next slide. Let's talk a little bit about philosophy. We
011create a strong budget framework. I mentioned the strategic budget process that has been proven to work over time. We've been effective with our dollars. We've got, as I say, the military a big bang for our buck and we continue to want to move forward with that idea. Next, we want to ensure a solid financial basis. As I mentioned about the issue, the concept of sustainability. We don't want to start and stop. We want to continue strong momentum. Thirdly, we are macrobased. We're not looking at individual needs and then come summing them up and saying, I need an X amount of dollars. We're looking at where we going strategically and how do we support that at a department level, at a school level, right down the line. So all those pieces come together to keep up,
012if you would, a mini pillar of the roof of what we're trying to accomplish with the forthcoming school year. The last bullet, and I'm not going to read that, but I'd like you to just hit those high points. Solveny, compliance, transparency, inclusivity, equity based, and needs-based. That is a very strong statement. And I believe the history of this district has proven that we walk the walk and we talk to talk. As an example, I will submit to you for the community's perspective, they may not know, we've had several audits by the US Department of Education, specifically related to the ESSER dollars, no findings. Our findings in terms of the federal government has been exceptional. Not any finding how we spent the money or how we accounted for it. And also, I'll speak to this a
013little bit later, independent agencies, the government financial finance accounting office, the the international association of business school officials, they don't know us. They look at our documentation. They ask us questions and queries and we have to prove essentially that we are state-of-the-art and in compliance with general accepted accounting principles. Gazby, with that, I'm going to yield the floor for a second. Miss Pulk would like to come up and speak to the questions that were posed by the board. >> First of all, I want to thank the board uh Mr. Riddle uh for the questions uh that you posed uh to the district. We believe that the presentation that we have tonight is going to answer uh most of the questions that you have and most of the concerns that we've uh heard across the community.
014I want to go ahead and read uh these these questions and then if at the end of the presentation they have not been uh answered, you're free to reiterate. Okay. Um, one of the questions that was asked of us was, "How are we preparing for the many financial uncertainties as we begin this new school year?" I won't begin to answer these questions. I just want to read them so that everyone is aware of them. What cuts or delays and payments are we anticipating from the federal and state governments? And how will these potential funding losses or payment delays be reflected in our budget? Again, we're going to answer those things in the presentation. Because of past responsible budgeting, thank you for that. Uh, we have accumulated significant amount of cash reserves and little debt. That's
015true. And Elizabeth Hennessy is going to speak to that. What is our worst case scenario for having to tap into those reserves at this time? And how far down might we have to spend down those reserves of the next three years if the financial picture and support continues to deteriorate due to politics or recession? Third set of questions uh or question was uh have any items for services program staff or other costs been cut from this year's budget? Uh, next, did I hear correctly that in order to keep services and staffing levels the same as last year, we will need to tap into at least 30 million of our cash reserves uh this year? Is that still our plan? And why? Uh, is it anticipated that we also need to tap into our reserves for
016the next several years? And then finally, um, in a prior budget session, we heard that the district was not planning to cut student services and we, uh, saw the intent on that slide, the superintendent's intent. And she's been emphatic that we're not going to reduce anything that's related to direct students, right? No, or nor staff this year, but instead would maintain the same level of programs and services as last year. How much will spending potentially increase this year due to the increased personnel and inflation uh costs? So again, we intend to answer all of these questions uh throughout the presentation and you're free to ask questions at the end if we have not answered your concerns. >> Thank you, Miss Poke. Uh again she will be inserting herself in the program as we find uh
017items that she wishes to highlight. Let me speak for a moment about a longitudinal history of our district financially. Let's look at awards and recommend and uh recommen recommendations excuse me awards and rec I can't read that sorry my red recognition I retina sorry loader. Um we have a history there for you from 2003 to 2024. As you can see starting at 2003 we had a 1.9 score. That means essentially they the state has ranked us at that point kind of low and we are currently at a 3.9 which is recognition which is up very much near the top. It's right up at the top level. Um this looks at our we call them our our operating funds meaning fund 10 education fund fund 20 which is uh on and m fund 40 which is
018transportation and fund 70 which is our working cash that's considered the financial health of of our district. The point the teaching point for this slide is that we have grown and been vigilant and by being vigilant we have raised our score and our recognition independently by Isby standard from an area that we need to work on to one of the more exceptional districts in the state at least terms financially speaking. Next slide. Let's talk about some of the awards I mentioned independent agencies. the International School Board Association. We've won the uh meritorious budget award 10 times. That's from you can see the years from 2010. Miss Poke, I didn't realize I was involved with all those. From 2013 to 2024, eight of them are mine. Great. Um but it it's not me. It's it's the
019system. This recognizes best budget practices by school districts. People independent of us have looked at how we go about doing business, held us against a Gatsby standard and found us exceptional. Moving on, let's look at the again certificate of excellence. This speaks about transparency and highquality financial accounting. How accurate are you? Again, the district has won it 17 times from 2007 to 2024. Moving forward, moving over from IASBO, we look at the govern government finance officers association which deals with not just school districts but counties, states, also uh city and county uh government structures and large nonprofits. We've achieved their award seven times. This award, the certificate of achievement speaks to recognition for government accounting following government rules, not not private sector rules, government rules and financial accounting requirements. And lastly, it's one time only
020because that award doesn't exist anymore. But in 2014, as I rise, we wrote the with the government financial uh office, we won the award again for best practices and budgeting. that ward's been retired and the specifications been uh placed into another ward. That is a very short hopefully informative history as to where we've come from financially over the last 10 years or so. With that, I'm going to yield the floor and Mr. Loza is going to speak to us a little bit about the history of our credit rating as a school district. Mr. slow. >> Thank you, Mr. Latimore. Good evening, everyone. So, history of credit rating. Uh, the next slide, please. S&P, who are they? So, standard and pores, commonly known as S&P, one of the most prominent financial intelligence companies in the world.
021They are one of the largest uh rating agencies. And whenever we go out for bonds, uh, we get a drilling and grilling from them on our financial practices, policies, and our and our financials. So, they are the one that um, Miss Elizabeth Hennessy coordinates with. Uh, we have an interview with them and then they give us a credit rating just before we go out for bonds. The various credit ratings are on this next slide and they go anywhere from AAA extremely strong to D in default. Currently we are A+ uh which is very which is strong. Um the next slide will note uh uh the the changing of the ratings and we go back to November 17th of 2006 we had a tripleB rating which is known noted as adequate. October 30th of 2009 we
022went up to an A minus rating. February 27th 2013 we moved up to an A rating and currently uh we are at a uh A+ stable rating. and I will turn it over to Mr. Nick Chen to do the budget planning process. All right, good evening everyone. Thank you Mr. Lewis. Thank you. Uh all right, budget planning process. Yes, my name is Nick Chin. Let's go to the next slide. So again going back to the history of the district and how it used to do its resource allocations uh to the present um from left to right starting from where we used to have wide funding differences across schools uh with unplanned and inconsistent school sizes program offerings um and funding based largely very largely entirely upon enrollment. Fast forward to now where we now have
023school funding that is evidence-based, right? The state evidence-based funding model. Um we have still a degree of flexibility and improved transparency. Um and the portfolio of the schools reflects um the greatest needs of the students and uh the communities that each of our schools serves. So again um why why is this important? Well, it shows that the strategic budget planning process that we have in place um it utilizes evidence-based funding systems and of course this differentiates from funding according to and this allows us to differentiate funding according to student need while also ensuring a base from which students in all schools can thrive. Um it allows a flexible funding system that ensures that resources resource use is driven by the unique needs and instructional vision of each school and not rigid funding requirements. And it
024it allows us to have a transparent system that allows everyone to understand the choices made building trust and enabling strategic planning across all stakeholders. Next slide. Here is information you've been pre presented with previously. It's the uh standard budget calendar of events for this current cycle uh going all the way back from January 1st through March 31st of 2025. Of course, we all all of the pre-workshop planning, all of the meetings, all of the work that goes into that. Budget workshop number one was conducted on May 6th. Budget workshop number two was conducted on June 3rd. Today, of course, this evening is August 5th. Budget workshop number three. We will now uh after this meeting we will have the 30-day required public inspection in period uh for the uh tentative adop uh budget to be
025adopted and then we have our budget hearing and adoption scheduled for September 9th. Next slide. Uh this section uh is a a highle overview of how the district uh makes its financial commitments. Next slide. So in in terms of uh how the money is committed if we're talking through accounts payable through purchasing what we're talking is about is that a requisition needs to be submitted to the business office. And so part of that requisition process is is a now automated well not I shouldn't say automated but it is an electronic approval chain in our ERP system infinite visions to where um there are multiple approvers of each request a requisition is a request to obligate district monies uh and each of the approvers is looking primarily at uh their their specific area. So, you know,
026let's say if it's a requisition from a principal, that principal would be monitoring that requisition for programmatic um alignment uh to see that it's achieving the goals of the school and of the district. Um I am in the approval chain of most of the requisitions as well. I'm looking for compliance across all of the uh local school board policies, perhaps the state uh uh Illinois school code policies and any applicable uh federal policies, things like that. So compliance would be another layer of that approval. Um so on and so forth. So uh that that's the general outline of how um this those financial commitments are processed in the district. Next slide. When it comes specifically to any contracts or agreements uh where there are terms and conditions involved of course then we have our legal
027department that offers its lens and review of those technical legal terms. Uh so that is another step that is in the requisition approval process and vetting process. And next slide. And finally, there's the action um the ultimate decision uh on approving whether or not to go proceed with the requisition, placing the order with a vendor or contracting with the contractor for those services or software, whatever it may be. Uh ultimately that decision does uh reside with the board of education. And so we have the superintendent approving all all commitments um for the district. And of course I think as you're all aware um previously the threshold was um $25,000. Now it's been increased to $35,000. Anything $35,000 or above uh must come before the board of education for approval by formal roll call uh motion
028motion and voting and then roll call vote. Is there a question? >> Yeah, I'm just wondering why it increased. >> So, in the um that changed across the state. I'm not sure exactly. It was recently. >> Yeah. The threshold was increased from 25 to 35. Miss Pulk, if you'd like to speak to that, but I think just primarily to update it in keeping with the times of of >> over overtime. Yeah, >> things go up. And it had been $25,000 for many, many, many years. >> As long as I was I've been here, and I've been here since 2007, it was 25,000. And so the state changed a law. I think it was in January of last year. Don't quote me on that, but I think that's when it was. And so we uh talked
029to the legal department and we decided that uh it was best to increase it uh here. Why leave it low? For federal, it's actually uh $400,000. So when we're looking at these type things, we're not only looking at it from a state lens, but we're looking at it from a federal lens because uh most of our grants, not all of them, but the majority of them uh fall under GADA. Uh and so it's just the federal rules, GADA and OM. And so uh we we really looked at this extensively with uh uh the help of legal and uh we revised the board policy to reflect state guidelines. So the next section, next slide. Thank you. uh for the different uh the district. It's been a long day. For the district financial picture, um I'll bring
030up uh Mr. Loso once again. >> Thank you, Mr. Chin. Uh the next slide will go through a history of the general state aid and evidence-based funding allocations. Uh one of our primary sources of revenue for the district. You can see back in 2014 we were getting $82 million in general state aid. Uh now uh uh and through 2025 161 million840. Um 26 we're projected uh is a projected 168 million which is a 4.1% increase. Um, we'll probably find out in next week or two whether that's going to be true or not, but that's what we've put in the budget for now. The next slide is general state aid and uh allocations. Um, this kind of gives a percentage change uh for the numbers that were on the preceding slide. Again, noting a projection of
031168 million uh which is 4.10% increase from this year. The uh another source of uh another major source of our revenue for the district is a property tax extension um or property taxes. And this slide notes from 16 through 2024. Um, and it's uh what we do note is uh in starting in 2018 uh we had a flat uh extension of 52,418,000 uh for three years, four years. And then in 2022 uh we had a flat extension of 52,798. The difference is basically because of the uh uh PTAB recapture that they instituted back in 2021. That's not uh something of the district's doing. That's something that the county did. So we've had uh level level property taxes since uh 2018 basically. >> Excuse me. What are those? Pab. Um. Oh. Oh boy. >> Yeah, it's
032been a while since I've I've noted that, but it goes back to I think property tax something. Okay. Um, moving on to the next slide. Property tax extension due to leveling. So, here's where we're noting the uh the tax extensions that we had as first column totaling 419 million. Well, property tax appeal board is PTAB. Um, so the first column for tax extension is uh our actual tax extension, that's the actual taxes that we collected, $419 million. The tax extension without the leveling um is noted in the second column totaling over the years of 17 through 24 $454 million. That's where we're noting a $35 million difference um by keeping the property taxes level. So this is my appeal to the board of education that we don't remain level because of the fiscal climate that
033we're experiencing uh at the state level and the federal level. Um it just would not be prudent for our district. uh you're going to hear later on in the presentation that we believe that some of our projections um it would be reduced um not because we were not making um good projections but it's because of uh executive orders and also uh the fiscal challenges that the state is experiencing because they too have lost esser I mean all of us have. >> And so, uh, this 35 million that, uh, Mr. Lawsa just pointed out to you doesn't go away. It builds upon that each year. Yes, ma'am. >> So, that 35 million that deficit that that we lost. We lost >> we lost that. >> And so because the base remained the same over the course
034of that time, we could never recapture that base. And so we're building off of the new bases, right? Whatever we make that to be. But it will all that loss will always grow because we lost the base. We'll never catch up. So the only way we can you know reduce the amount of the loss is to increase the taxes to some extent and we're asking that we increase it to the maximum extent and by statute 5%. Right? So, um, given the amount of money that we've left on the table, uh, for the the years, I mean, we have really been good to our community. And I say our because I live in Wikin, too, right? So, we have really been good uh to the community. And we're still not uh levying the taxes um at
035the extent when uh our EAV equalized assess valuation uh was higher. We're still not there. So, we we have as a district, I believe that we we have done great things for our community, but now is the time if we're going to continue to to uh educate our students at a a great level, if we're going to continue to do uh improvements on our buildings, which um at the discretion of the board uh the superintendent has done, we have to increase the taxes. Yes, sir. >> So, so how do you answer a a resident in Waggan who says, um, I've lived in my house 20 years or 30 years and the value is going up. Uh, so my tax bill is going up even if you don't increase the taxes. So, you're getting more money
036already. Why are you still needing to tax me more? >> Okay. >> How do you answer that? >> Yes. Um the reason why is because um we need it. I mean, I think that's that's that's the easiest way to answer that question, right? Because we need it. And as we proceed with this presentation, you're going to see why we need it. uh we were able to do uh $80 million worth of capital improvements and we never went out for a bond deal. You know what I mean? We we did that. We maximized the um the er money that we got in by not uh putting personnel in there except uh to pay existing uh personnel so that we could retain those positions which was an allowable uh practice. But we didn't put new personnel in
037there which would have which would have harmed us because when we move forward, right, we would have had that cost and no money to support it. So we we practically when we presented to the board regarding ESSER, we put one-time expenses in there and that was intentional. It was strategic so that we would position ourselves to be able to survive what we've been saying for three years. The Esser cliff is coming. >> Right. Right. >> Um I don't know which one. >> I guess my my followup to that is you said, you know, and I've heard you say we did not we did a good thing in walkgan because we didn't use that er money >> to hire a lot of new people, right? But we did contract for social services. >> What's going to
038happen to those folks? >> Well, that's a good question. Uh, one of the mandates that was for Esser is that we had to do social emotional supports, >> right? >> It was mandated, right? So, we did that, >> right? >> So, then if that is a priority, you've heard us say this over and over and over for the district. If that is determined to be a need and a priority for the district, then tough decisions, which I believe that we've been meeting uh every um Monday, I believe Monday to discuss uh where we are fiscally so that um the exec team can make those tough decisions about if we need to uh pivot or if we need to make some cuts, what are the target areas, right? What what are what is it that we're
039going to do in order to remain fiscally sound? >> Right. And and some of the stuff I've been reading says and it's probably speaking to school districts that are maybe had hired people uh and now we're having to let some of those people go. And they're saying social services have to be spread across the board. They have to be put into the classrooms by everybody, all the teachers, because you're not going to be able to support all those social services that you were doing, you know, and putting them in special people, you know, that these are the people that do the social services. >> I don't know how what you think about >> strategy strategies are different for different uh districts, right? And so, um, the superintendent and her staff is going to have to
040look at, uh, those type things and and make those, uh, decisions. But one thing I could, uh, stand flatfootedly here and tell you is that, uh, we maximize the use of that ESR money. Uh, Mr. Chin worked uh very hard um to to capture that information um to uh with the rest of the team um to go through the audit and um we're very prideful of the fact I've said this before that Keegan um is on the the Department of Education website uh with I think one other one other school district Chicago public schools and We passed that audit with no exception, no no no findings. So, and that's recorded out there on the Department of Education uh website. So, we're very proud of that. And then, uh also, uh when they ask us, do
041you have any money that's carried over into this year you didn't spend? And everybody was, you know, frantic because they lost a lot of money because they didn't spend it. But wkeeaggan wasn't there >> because wkeeaggan strategically spent the money. We put it in the places that had the highest need and we were a, you know, we were commended uh many times over for not having to think it out, >> right? >> We didn't have to think it out. The reason why we didn't have to think it out is because we had the unfunded uh list. So, we were just able to put the money >> where we didn't have the money before. And so, I commend um the board of education, the superintendent for for uh forward thinking >> uh to be able to
042do that. >> Yes. >> Can I jump in there, Gwen? >> I also want to state that when we were looking at all this, we were also looking at items that we know we could sustain. And so we were not looking at bringing things into Walkagan that we would put before our kids and have to take them back once Esther went away. So the whole team was very intentional with that. >> Mr. >> Okay. Um I I'm a little bit confused >> at something >> because um >> we we talked about did not or have any uh reoccurring >> things out of the esser right well I I'm this is my confusion >> because we do have a large reoccurring um liability I'm going to say on our budget Mhm. >> Okay. And that is
043the um is the large um the large amount of money that um that we granted to the teachers during negotiations. >> And so uh that is a reoccurring debt and liability on the district. And so, uh, where where is that being, um, captured within the budget? Because that was a very large amount of money. >> Mhm. >> Okay. And well, >> yes, >> you all know my stance on that. Okay. It's okay. Okay. But there were also other things that maybe we could have done um too. >> Okay. >> But where is it being captured? >> Okay. >> In the budget. >> Um that's that's another thing that I'm very excited about. Um when we negotiated in 2014. Okay. If you remember that uh that was that strike. Yes, that was >> when we negotiated
044in 2014, we went away from a salary schedule and went to a tier model. >> That was not unintentional. It was intentional, >> right? uh because the salary schedule as it existed uh at that time had pockets where um some individuals were getting let's say every sale was getting a 4% but the step in one uh from tw I'm just making this up from 12 to 14 might have been 10% >> right >> from 14 to 15 might have been 8% >> but we couldn't attract >> uh uh uh new uh teachers because the entry salary was low, very low. >> And so to correct that at the time, if you saw what Mr. Lawsa presented, we were getting $80 million in general state aid. We were not getting a lot of money in revenue
045into the district. And so before we would have even began to negotiate and if you recall uh they were prrating uh uh at the time it was general state aid. It wasn't ev evidence-based funding. They were prorating us and we were losing 1012 million uh per year. We couldn't take $10 million and put it into the schedule to fix it because that's what it would have taken for us to get a new salary schedule to fix it. We didn't have that money then. And so we were uh glad that we mutually agreed, the union and the district agreed to do a tier model. What was the benefit of the tier model? The benefit of the tier model was that it was a flat amount that we were giving them. If it was 4%, everybody got
0464%. They didn't get 4% plus the step. Right. >> Right. >> So, we were able to do that for 12 years. Um, and we were uh asked about that from districts across how did you do that? Well, we negotiated that and so we were able to uh keep salaries somewhat level for many years. And so here we come into uh the new negotiations in 23. 23. Yes. Because it it went into effect in 24. Okay. Yes. So here we come into the recent uh negotiations and there was a desire to go back to the salary schedule. Not a bad thing. Um the business office only uh makes suggestions to the superintendent who makes suggestions to the board of education. And so as a result of those suggestions and making uh salaries a priority, the board
047agreed that this is a priority. And so because the board agreed that it was a priority, we knew and I said at that time if we make salaries a priority, we'll have to cut potentially something else if our revenue was to decline. And so the board then agreed that salaries was, you know, was important. And so we don't disagree. We we don't disagree. But what I want to point out, and Mr. Loa is going to show you at later. A lot of times that when we're looking at these numbers, I might not say anything and I, you know, but I'm looking at the numbers and I'm I'm seeing where we're going with this. We were able to go from um 2023 to 2024 and increase $30 million and still have over $und00 million in the
048bank. We still what was that? Uh recognition. We still ended the year with recognition which is the highest financial profile uh at the state. Now what does that mean? That means that that level of salaries become the base. It becomes the base. And so um if those level of salaries become the base and everybody let's say stay on board you know you don't have a lot of attrition you know then we would have to look at that's what you were saying miss Hannah we would have to look at the salaries we would have to look at all of the contracts everything that we do every year and prioritize we would be forced to do that but that's the process that's in place right now anyway. So >> yes, we do. >> So that reoccurring what
049was it? >> It it was uh it increased 30 million. When we negotiated, we said the estimate was 26. But we never, you know, we never know who's going to come in, who's going to leave out. You know, it's an estimate based on that period of time and the personnel that's, you know, in the classroom at that time. And then also that's salaries. That's not including supplemental pay, those type things. >> So, all of that is built into >> the budget. >> Oh, yes. We have to put salaries in here. >> And is that the reason why we're going to have to go out for uh the bond? >> We're not going out for I don't know anything about us going. >> No, we just want uh Elizabeth to present to the board our debt
050level. I don't know anything about us going out for >> V. Okay. >> Yes. >> I just I'm I'm just thinking >> Yes. >> to um I mean that because >> I know where we came from years ago. >> Yes. >> And I know where we are now. >> Yes. >> And the sovereignty. >> Yes. >> Of the district. >> Yes. That's it's very important to the school community, our children, and we can't afford to go backwards. >> Yes. And it's important to us >> and and that and that's why we're we're having these meetings and they're frank meetings so that we could uh talk about where we are fiscally. And so later on, again, like I said, some of these questions we're going to answer throughout the presentation because we do have the proposed
051budget and it's going to show where we project that we're going to be, but that's based on the revenue projections that we have in there and the uh expenditure projections. >> Miss Romero's had her hand up and then Miss Fabian. Oh, you didn't. Okay. >> No, I was just going to say looking at the presentation, I believe we go over salaries and all of that in the future. So, I don't know if it's going through because it like she stated, it might be answered in the future cuz I did see those slides in there. >> Yes. So, so yes, this slide right here is one of the most important slides for me because we need the money. I know it's a short answer, but it's it's a truthful answer. We need the money and uh
052we need it because I know some of the community members, Mr. Vukovich was one of them who advocated for giving the teachers more money and and so the superintendent and the board responded uh to some of those requests and I and and I think it was a noble thing and it didn't bankrupt the district. >> Any other questions? >> Thank you. Mhm. >> As you can see in the yellow on this slide, every year basically that amount goes up. So it ramps up every year that we keep it flat. Okay. The next uh next slide, student enrollment. Um 2016 we had prek through 12 16,685 through uh 2025 we had 13,640. So definitely downward trend over the years and that it's a nationwide downward trend for everybody. Um financial trends these are the fund balances
053uh education on and m transportation working cash Mr. Latimore mentioned earlier these are the operating funds these are the funds that basically we get graded on our financial profile and that's how we get recognition or review or etc etc. So you look in 089 education -12 million um and m minus1 million transportation minus 11 million working cash a positive 22 million overall -2.8 million and you jump uh to 10 and 11 we jump up to 18 million fund balance between all four funds. 1314 we jump up to 41 million. Go on the next page or next screen. Um down to 1920 uh 74 million. So we're we're ramping up every year except a little dip in 1516 1617 and then uh 2021 through 2425 um going from 83 million to 100 well 2324 through the
054uh actual audited financials 116 million. Right now, we haven't had an audit for 25, so we're noting as unaudited. Uh, estimating 110,887 million. $110,887,000. The um the money in working cash of 41 million also includes uh um the bonds that we sold in 24 and 25 but $19 million of bonds are are still in this uh working cash number. All right. So next screen, shifts in revenue and expenditures going from left to right from 2019 through 2024. Those are all audited actuals. And I'll take you through fund 10, which is the education fund. 182 million in revenues, 203 million in revenues, 205 million in revenues, 231 million in revenues. in 2022, 257 million in revenues in 2023. Uh 2024, we dip down to 238. Uh and our adopted budget for 2025 is noting 239 million.
055So revenues are going down from 23 into 24 and 25. Now if we look at the expenditures 178 million in 2019, 184 million in 2020, 207 million 2021, 215 million 2022, 213 million 2023, 250 million 2024, 264 million in 2025. So the expenditures are going up as our revenues are going down. not a not a trend that we like to see. Uh the next screen um bank balances this is as of July 31st. These are the various accounts that we have with the various banks. Um Old National, we have a lot of accounts with them. Uh checking reserve, uh student collections account, the bond money. Um we have of course the payroll bank account money market and investments of 10 million. And then we have our insurance claims uh insurance account is with old national
056used to be with Bank of Waggan. Um but that uh that ended up going to First Midwest and then First Midwest got uh merged in with Old National. We have Third Bank. We have about 33,000 with PMA. We have 14,000 with Arbiter. That's a uh that's an um that's what pays our sports officials. Um and we'll be funding that to about $72,000 uh shortly. That's where how Kletbach pays the sports officials and It's laugh. Uh oh, that should be uh Okay, that should be PNC. Okay. So, PNC, we have $13.9 million with the PNC. That PMA is laugh is not right. That should be PNC. So total of all accounts 121,215,000 as of July 31st. >> Brian, can we get that updated so we can send the board this because they may want to look
057it over before um the vote takes place, please? >> Or you said PNC versus PMA. >> Yes. So that should be PNC 13,982,000. Um, Brian, could you tell me what the sweep account is? >> That was that was an insurance account that we had with the Bank of Waggan. Um, where basically we would um every day we would basically um unload our deposits um and it was called a sweep account, but we haven't been using that in recent past. Uh, right now it's just got a steady balance of a million25,000 >> and just sitting there. >> Correct. >> Earning interest. >> I don't think it's earning any interest. >> Yeah, >> maybe we should >> um the um what is that? the laws, the bylaws for the insurance plan board requires that we maintain at
058least a million or a million2 in the insurance account. So, all of the money that's really sitting and those accounts are really um board monies that we can really transfer into uh our regular uh checking account, but we just left it there. And the reason why uh we don't bother to move it is because if we don't have to tap into it, I've said this before. >> If we don't have to tap into it, then we're know we're not broke. That's just I mean, I'm just saying it's just like PNC, right? um we had it mislabeled here, but that money that's sitting in PNC, as long as we don't go to PNC, because all of our bills are paid out of Old National on the uh student activity side is Wa Keegan Community, Wkegan Community
059Bank, Win Trust. So, uh it's not a bad thing to have it there. If you start seeing all of our bank accounts just dwindle to nothing, then you should be concerned. But as long as we're not moving it, um we're fine. One of the other things I know, Miss Caroline, one of the other things, Mr. Riddle um um prompted us to invest money, which we have $10 million invested. And so as um those uh bonds mature, as those investments uh mature um we reinvest them. And so you normally get those reports uh at the operation services meeting. And so we've done extremely well with those despite um you know the interest rate uh going down. So that was really a smart move. But um with the climate being as it is, I don't know if
060it would be prudent for us to move more money than $10 million into investments. >> So I I don't think the concern was why was it sitting there? It's why is it not earning interest, >> right? >> Um that I'll have to follow up on. Um >> because when we think investment, we think it's going to be earning interest. >> Yes. So that I will follow up on and we will provide feedback to the superintendent because if it's not uh getting interest then we we can move that money into the board account because we only need to keep a little over a million in those accounts and and by by the bylaws. >> Mhm. >> It's just a lot of money >> for it not to be gaining interest. Yes, I definitely >> we definitely
061can follow up um with our bank contact um to to confirm >> if that is indeed the case. >> Thank you. >> We need a new bank, >> right? >> Some of those some of those online accounts, I don't know if we could move it into those, but they pay 4%. >> Online bank. I'm talking about online banking. >> All of these banks. No baking, >> you know, um when we have our meetings and when we set up the investment with certain rules we have to follow um because um we were someone told us a story before about a school district that made an investment and it was not in in accordance with the statute and they lost big. >> So no, there's rules there's rules that we have to follow. And if you recall
062when we uh opened up that investment account, we actually had uh First Midwest at the time when we made the investment coming here and then Mr. Morris uh did some extensive paperwork uh that had to be signed confirming that we were following uh the statute regarding investments for school districts. So no uh we can't just put it in something that that has high interest, >> right? And that's not the intent of the question. It's simply why weren't why is that money turned? >> Yeah, but I was following up >> with Mr. Riddle's question. So, yes, I do I do uh I did respond uh to that question which was we would follow up and and let you know if indeed that is the truth and then uh I followed up with a response to Mr.
063Riddle's question. >> Makes sense. Thank you. Thank you. >> Okay, going on to the next screen. Uh this is student activity convenience accounts. Uh Win Trust uh which is Wagen Community Bank uh million470,000 Lulu Ripburgger and Alan Larson are the scholarships are in here. uh Bank of Northern Illinois CD and PMA IDs 11,000. So a total of student activities of 1,552,000 as of the end of July. >> And that one should be PMA. >> What's that? >> And that one is correct. It should be PMA. >> I'm sorry. I didn't check. >> Yeah. Uh next screen. uh negotiated contracts. This is a nice uh summary of the current uh contracts that we have with the with the different labor groups, teachers, um three-year contract uh through uh uh four-year contract through uh 2027. Um hefty
064increase in 2024, but that was the priority that we did. uh 2025 3% 3.87 87 26 um and about 3 to 4% in FY27 professional support staff uh you have the rates there um that one is currently being negotiated uh service employees that's the custodial maintenance uh 5% 4% me too clause with with non-union so what non-union gets uh that's what custodial maintenance people get food service workers the same as uh the same percentages as a custodial maintenance uh psychologists uh that's uh ending uh June of 26 pair of professionals going through June of 26 and we're showing the increases for the non-union staff at 4%. Okay, next slide. Days cash on hand for the operating funds. So operating funds are 10 uh educational fund, 20 operations and maintenance, 40 transportation, and 70 working cash.
065Taking the u calculating the average expenditures. So we're grabbing what all the expenditures were in those four funds. uh aggregating it and dividing it by 360 days and 2324 came out with 767,43 average expenditures per day. Then we look at the cash on hand. Uh we had 105 million at that time. Uh we're dividing that into the dividing that by the 767 average expenditures per day and we're getting 136.89 days. We move to which is unudedited at this point. So we're gu gueststimating. Average expenditure is up 784,000. Um and the days cash on hand is 127.13. So a little bit less than 2324 but still better than 90 that required. So, okay. State categorical aid, um, that's been going up from 2015, 106 million, uh, through 2024 of 171 million and 25 of 177 million.
066That's 15 through 25. So, state categorical aid has been going up. On the other hand, federal categorical aid um and this is where we run into 2025 with the user cliff. >> Yep. >> So there you see it right there. 24 million in in 2025, 53 million in 2024. And that's the um lack of uh user money now. So, state and federal categorical aid. Uh, this is for 2526. This is what we're seeing out there in in uh in IAS. Some of these uh if you look towards the bottom starting with CTEI where it's grade uh we have not seen the application come out yet. Um, but the other ones up above, uh, we have, um, and title one, I'm hearing, is a lower allocation than the prior year. Maybe about5 $600,000. Um, title two
067has not come out yet and title 4 is out. uh IDA flowth through is out but the ones down towards the bottom uh starting with CTEI uh truance alternative which we call TEOP uh the uh after school u after school grant that we called new direction uh district literacy plan um title one SIP >> what's that title one SIP CTE Perkins Title three. Uh none of those that we've seen any action on in terms of an application coming out for us to apply for. But yet we're we're planning the year with uh with uh these programs, but uh we're not aware that uh we have funding for them yet. So a little concerning. Next screen. 2526 proposed budget. Um So we start with the education fund has a question. >> Yeah. Before we go into
068the proposed budget, just go back to one of the uh previous uh questions why the revenues are decreasing. Right. >> Right. >> But our expenditures are going up. >> Correct. Our enrollment is decreasing. >> Correct. >> And so the numbers kind of aren't driving. Why are the expenditures going up? But low the enrollment is is decreasing. >> Mhm. And well, we already talked about the expenditures increasing. So why are the expenditures increasing? >> Uh mostly because of salaries. So >> and the revenue that we're receiving is a lot significantly a lot less than the number of students that are leaving if you're doing it per pupil. I was just looking at this the drastic difference of what we were receiving before right so even if our expenditures went down for easy number a h 100red
069bucks but now we're making 200 less we're going to see that big gap and >> I'm sorry no my question was looking at this because again we know that tup and all of those grants funded come through the state but also the state gets it through the federal, right? >> Um, all of those jobs that are tied into title funding, right, that get paid out of not just title funding, but grant monies, >> do we have a plan if those um if that grant funding doesn't come through, we can't provide the extra initiatives, but also we have staff members that get paid out of that funding. So, what is the plan if in the end >> we're really limited or we just don't get it? >> Yeah. Um, for most of the title grants and
070Mr. Chen can come up, we've strategically for years taken out certified staff out of there because we have to pay the TRS federal. So, it's not prudent to leave certified staff in those grants. So we have uh nonts personnel in there and uh what we try to do through the budget process is to put a lot of our supports uh in into the grants and we work very closely with Dr. B. I think he's in here. We work very closely with you to maximize the IDA grant and we also work uh with um Lisa uh to also maximize her grants and as well as Mr. Chin to make sure that when we were doing that with ESSER, we're still doing it with our um other grants too because at the end of the day, this
071is one of the things that we've talked about like for years and that is um we don't want to budget in silos because at the end of the day, all of the money belongs to the superintendent and belongs to the board of education. Just because it's a grant doesn't mean that it's your money to harbor to do what you want. It has to be directly aligned with the strategic plan and the initiatives that the district has. And so when we do that that budget process um uh and uh Dr. Ceerio as well as Mr. remote and look at all of the requests that go to them. Um within the rules related to uh those grants and not supplanting um we maximize uh the grants to be able to pay um for those students who are
072receiving services across the district. uh and and we've tried to do that for years and and doing that I think that we can uh really maximize our limited resources. Another thing reason why I got up was to point out that not only why Keegan uh we're losing uh students but across the state. So, if across the state they're also losing uh students, then evidence-based funding for us might not go down. >> I'm I'm just like fingers crossed, feet crossed, everything crossed that we we stay tier one, >> right? Because we would get the major, you know, along with those that are still tier one, we'll continue to get the majority of evidence-based funding. So just because we put 4.1% as an increase uh in here and uh evidence-based funding went up like 3.1 3.4 something
073like that. It doesn't mean that we're not going to get more money. We just have to wait to see if other people went down with enrollment. Is your pen? Okay, now I'm on um and if you look at some of these um and we've as Gwen has stated that we've been meeting every Monday some of these some of the titles we have heard that funding is going to come. Yeah, >> we don't know when how much when do we apply so there is uncertainty at the national and even at the state level but there is communication coming back out saying this grant is going to be funded. We just haven't heard of it as of yet or what it will consist of as of to this point. Right. So, we just constantly have to keep
074monitoring that. >> Well, and also I'm looking at the title three grants, right? And knowing >> absolutely >> the alignment and the vision of the current um administration. That's where I'm concerned. any people that are, you know, being funded out of that or programs that are being funded. If those particular grants aren't funded, how do we carry on? That that's where my concern is, right? Or if they're funded at a significantly lower or they can also change the rules, right, and say >> absolutely >> this program will only pay for X, Y, and Z, but we were using it to pay ABC. So that's where my concern is. So completely agree with you and I will tell you that the exact grant that you're um identifying now is the one that caused me the most
075anxiety in lie of what we're seeing in our nation. Right. Um, but I do want to say that and it's a conversation then Gwen and I, Miss Poke and I had earlier and we keep having that we're in uncharted territory right now >> and the 21st century about >> and the 21st century grant was a big one for us too. But we do know that that one is supposedly going to be coming through, what it looks like, what it's going to fund. We got to wait on all that still. Um, to my understanding, unless something came out very recent, which I have not seen in the past couple days. Um, I lost my train of thought, Miss Fabian. However, I I know what I was saying. We're we are in uncharted territory, but I want
076the board to know that we've been here before and I've stated before that we have to be okay with not knowing right now. However, that does not mean that we're not educated and ab breast of the executive orders that are coming out coming out. That also does not mean that we're not talking to other districts, not only in our state, across other states, that we're not having brainstorming sessions with our colleagues. As a district, we have had conversations even with all of our administration and our principles and have had these discussions on what does our budget look like this year, how we are going to have how we're going to have to band together. and I have full confidence that every administrator in this district understands what we're up against and we're committed to working
077together to ensure that all of our students get direct service. And that's not just a quote. That is our mission because we know that even though we may not be getting as much money as we have previously, Dr. Cesario always resi reminds me Gwyn and Leberon that even though we may not be getting as much money, the need is even higher now than it has been previously. So we may have less students, but there is a higher need for our students. And so we have to be mindful of that. Also >> want to make sure we're looking at plans B and C. We do miss Fabian confidently conf with all confidence I can tell you that we are talking about plans B and C to sit here and run through all those scenarios I believe
078would spread panic not that we're not aware of them but we are having those hard discussions and looking at a number of variables in our weekly meetings of if this happens then we need to pivot this way if that happens we need to pivot that way another example of this is and I brought up earlier um to Miss Poke is let's think about um the pandemic. >> We thought we were going to close for a week, maybe a month. Nobody ever thought it was going to be a school year and we were able to piv pivot and execute successfully because we all banded together as a team. We had one mission and we knew that students were our priority. And in a sense, we're back in that same era where we're in uncharted territory. Um,
079but the board should be confident to know that the staff knows the reality of the fiscal state, not only at the state level, but at the national level. And we're all committed to ensuring that the kids get the direct services they need. And so there may be some difficult conversations that we may need to have especially in the upcoming school year and I'm not speaking that into existence but I really keep hearing Miss Poke say that we have to be mindful what is our strategic plan and what is our priorities and put our money behind that. There's two title well wait I see one two title one school improvement and accountability and then there's another one that does have revenue. So why are they the same thing? Um where you got one that is funded
080and the one same thing um same number and everything. It's not the application is not open for submission. What um can someone elaborate on that please? Are you referring to like title one school? >> Title one school improvement and title one planning care. What's different? >> Yeah, I think Mandy's more familiar than anybody with that. So, I'll let her speak to that. >> Yeah. Good evening, superintendent, board president, members of the board, colleagues, and community. Um, every year when we receive the ESSA designations from our state report card, we may have schools identified who have been identified as targeted or comprehensive based off of their ESSA designation. We don't receive that official information until late September um for internal review and then it becomes public at the end of October on our state report card.
081If any of our schools qualify as targeted or comprehensive at that point, then at that point the state provides additional funding called a planning year. And so at this point, we don't know the outcomes of the ESA designations at this time. However, if and when we do have schools that are identified as targeted or comprehensive, the state would then provide us with a planning year budget. >> And the one above is from past year, >> correct? It's for the schools that were identified um as targeted comprehensive in for in prior school years >> and that information usually comes out in October. Am I correct? >> Yeah. By the end of October it's released. >> The ones were already >> right. Okay. >> This is for any >> the bottom one. >> Thank you. Thank you.
082>> Any other questions on state and federal categorical aid? Okay, we'll move move back to the 2526 proposed budget. Um, starting with the ED fund, uh, estimated beginning fund balance $57 million. Revenues totaling 245,46 expenditures totaling 271,959. Um deficit 26,553,000 um estimated ending fund balance 30 million. So we have a fund balance that can absorb that but cannot continue that deficit forever. >> Right? >> Operations and maintenance 9 million almost $10 million beginning fund balance $10 million in revenues 10.6 6 in expenditures small deficit of 327,000 [Music] uh healthy fund balance 9.5 million debt service where we pay our bonds and interest uh $119,000 surplus 2.4 4 million fund balance. Transportation $6.1 million fund balance uh but almost a $2 million deficit this year. I am rough social security pretty much even. Uh ending fund
083balance 5.5 million. Capital projects uh we're estimating $ 8.6 million in expenditures. Um fund balance uh to be negative 19.8 8 million working cash 41 million tort minus 7.6 million fire prevention 3.6 million ending fund balance. So keep in mind that funds 10 20 40 and 70 are our operating funds. Those are the funds that we get graded on for financial profile. So, we're a little more lax with the tort fund 80 and and um and fire prevention and safety and capital projects. All right, any questions on that? If not, we'll turn back to uh turn it over to uh Miss Poke who will will talk about fiscal concerns and challenges. All right. So um we are looking at various things that we are concerned about and those things are um talked about repeatedly and
084in hopes that when we get more solidified numbers we'll be able to address them. Um reduction in the evidence-based funding is a concern. We don't believe that that is going to be the case because again we believe that uh as our enrollment went down everybody else lost and over the last couple of years even with the decline in enrollment uh we were able to get uh slight increases and when I say slight increases I'm talking about between 4 to6 million uh reduction in categorical aid uh it was spoken of earlier that uh in title uh one as well as some of the other grants we have some reductions And so if it's a widespread reduction, we'll have to make some decisions regarding what we're going to do with those expenditures that are in our categorical
085aid. Unexpected spikes in compensation. When we're talking about that, we're uh obviously talking about uh negotiating contracts that we are currently in as well as hiring replacement staff or uh any anything like that because we can't predict at and we could only uh predict attrition. Uh we can't particularly project where we're going to place people when they come in. So, if there's an unexpected spike, uh that's going to influence uh what happens with uh our budget. Uh executive orders, we can't speak more uh to that. I mean, um it's so fluid. Um uh Miss Vanderrock as well as the business office and the superintendent as well as the executive team are obviously monitoring those executive orders and legis legislative uh changes. Um the elimination of the Department of Education is a concern for us because
086they're going to put a lot of the grants together and then uh it's not going to be controlled by the Department of Education but uh but the state. >> Yeah. And so then we don't know how the money is going to be divided up. And so, um, we're concerned about what's going to happen, uh, if the Department of Education is eliminated. Um, unfunded mandates, we continuously put that there because there's always, uh, changes in the law that we have to do this and that, and yet there's no additional funding that comes with those mandates. And so, um, we're we're concerned about that. And obviously for many many years, I think since about um 2010 or 12, we've been talking about the shift in the TRS from the state to the school districts. And back then,
087when we uh presented that information to the board, we said that the impact was going to be nearly $2 million. Today, what that is is probably way more. >> Uh Mr. Kiscala uh calculated for us uh the the impact back then. So, uh, I'm afraid to know what that is today. And then, of course, we spoke about leveling taxes, right? So, that is a concern, right? So, um, we're again uh asking the the board to consider to allow us to increase the taxes. >> Next slide, please. Uh, yes, ma'am. >> Um, you talked about the potential. >> Yes. cuts in the categorical aid. Yes, the categorical um >> yes, grants. >> Grants. And so I guess this superintendent >> Okay. >> Uh question from board. Can you get us a list of the potential categorical
088uh grants that may be cut? >> It's hard for us to say right now. >> It's not out. Yeah, >> it's hard for us to say right now, Miss Hannah. Let me ponder that for a minute. Let me see what I can put together. Give me a minute. Let me >> it's assumption my mind around that. >> I mean because like I I could see what you're saying like there's some that are out there that they're saying these may be on hold and there's others that are out there that they may just say they're assumption. >> So I guess I I let me let me let me think about that a little bit. >> Right. And all I want basically is to see the different grants >> we provided. >> Okay. that are going to
089be cut if that may. >> Yes, I I understand what you're saying. My concern is that I could put a list together that we hear um some noise around, but there may be some that may not be on our radar that may let Let me play with >> on the last one where she has zero because they haven't been opened yet, and that's because we don't >> know. So potentially that's the list that you're looking at, >> right? where >> the last um slide where it showed all the zeros. >> Well, I saw that. >> Yeah. So, those would be the one more. Those would be the grants that you're potentially looking at. >> I put them >> No, go ahead, Angela, cuz I think you're hitting me. >> Um I I I from what
090I I mean I it's kind of answered, right? So the ones in the gray are kind of those that have the potential, but I think it's also more that can be added to that list. But my concern is also like I know that we have lip laps down there, right? I mean technically that is doesn't we don't know about that until September and that's based on last year's numbers. So that's not even an application that we have to submit. That's just a report we have to wait. So it technically we might not get cut because it was based they're based on last year's numbers, >> right? But what were those numbers? She doesn't have we don't have >> and we won't have them. >> No, what were they last year? >> So that would be
091a different question. That would be a question of these grants. What was the potential money we can get and what is the potential we can lose? But again, they're just an assumption. So we can find out what we got from lip laps last year. We can find out what we got from title three for the IEP. We can get all those numbers, but we cannot assume that those are the numbers that we're going to get this year. And we can also not assume that those are the numbers that are going to get cut. >> Right. And I don't care about the numbers. I just want the name. >> So that would be the ones in the >> grant. Right. So these are all of them. >> That's all that could possibly. Yes. Okay. >> Yes.
092>> Thank >> you. Will next slide. Okay. So, historically the board wanted to see um the sitebased expenditure report. Um so we put it in here. We submitted this report about a month ago. So this is the information that is going to appear on the report card. you'll uh see uh which we included well we're mandated to include uh how much we've spent uh locally uh from the state and federal and then how much uh each school got per pupil and then uh I added on here I can't see this far so I added on the enrollment third column so But all of the numbers are relative to So that's what happens when we do that comparability uh reporting that uh we're spending uh about the same in the schools. Yes, ma'am. >> So the
093only thing that confuses me is with the student enrollment, we don't have a fifth of a student, right? Or 15th of a student. >> Yes. >> So how are we getting those numbers? is that that they're only coming for a partial day like how are we getting a fraction of a student in the enrollment? >> Yes, it could be and it doesn't change kindergarten and those numbers are we we don't populate those. Those are populated from the state and so um it's it's probably a half day >> when those kids are only coming for certain period. Okay. >> Any other questions? And the only other thing I just want to remind um it's not to you Miss Poke, but it's to our principles and those teams putting together the sitebased budgeting. >> Um and you
094reminded us in the beginning, pillar number two is all about family and community engagement. I know it's not required that you have a family um presence or you know a parent on on these um sitebased budgeting committees. However, if we're really committed to that pillar, I think we do need to see or have a parent perspective or a community member perspective. I think some of them had community members, but I would like to see at our school level more parents be involved or family members being involved when they're um coming up with these plans. >> Yes. Next slide, please. Um Nick, you want to talk about your comparability report? >> All right. The the uh title one title one part A uh comparability requirement. Uh so as we've uh discussed in years past uh a
095a requirement of being a participant in the title one part A grant is that we um don't take away uh uh state uh and local resources from one school and then you know replace those with title one dollars. So, one way to comply with that requirement is to give a um a per pupil amount that is uh comparable, what they say comparable, meaning in other words, equivalent um to schools that are within similar enrollment uh and grades span uh uh bands we can say. So, so you'll see on the table uh which we've uh shared with you before with everyone before um we have uh Robbie Lightoot. It is a it is a standalone uh prek only site. So, it's actually excluded from the comparability report because it's a nothing else to compare it to
096within the district. Uh when you look at the bottom, you will see Glenwood Elementary. that is also considered non-comparable because it has so much of a higher enrollment than the other schools that serve the same grade spans. So that's also ex excluded from the uh report. And the same thing for all the way at the bottom for the three campuses of the high school, which is still considered just one high school altogether. It is our only high school technically. So there's no other high school to compare it to within the district. So those are the three outliers. And then you see the bands that we have starting with Carmen Buckner to North Elementary uh pre-K through five. So those are grouped together. Uh Cook Magnet down through Clark Elementary, K through five. Those are grouped
097together. And of course all five of the middle schools being grouped together. And we can see that we've arrived at this per pupil rate of $700 per pupil across those sites that need to be comparable to one another. it results in those non- salary non-benefits allocation amounts uh stated in the one two three in the fourth column and uh just to kind of recap some of the uh questions that have come up in the past about this um often times oftentimes uh what this results in is schools actually getting more money than what they asked for in their budget request. So that's that's typically how uh we in the business office have handled that because you know we certainly don't want to harm or reduce the level of services being provided to our students at
098any of these schools. When we look at the total at the bottom you can see that all of this adds up to about $10.9 million. So $10.9 million of non salary nonbenefits budgets out to these schools to achieve their uh goals. uh on top of what is already being supported through uh the ASAP team and central office supports that are being provided across the district. >> Yeah. So, so we are able to comply with this uh comparability requirement, this federal requirement uh and we are able to exclude salaries and benefits because basically the government the feds, the state, they recognize that there can be wide differences in the amounts of salaries and benefits being paid at one school versus another. Uh if if one school has uh senior staff, you know, all of the teachers
099have 20 plus years and they're all at, you know, masters plus 30 plus 60. and then you have another school serving a similar grades span and they have you know half the staff is you know within their first or second year at only a bachelor's degree those uh disparities um are considered uh in this requirement uh when we uh submit the report for compliance. >> Yes. So chain so I I understand the chart and how you got this 700 roughly uh comparability but what is this money from? Is it a grant? Is it federal? Is it state? Is it >> This would be state and local. >> It's it's state and local. >> Yeah. Yeah. Non, you know, non-grant. Yeah. >> Non-grant. Because I thought our whole thing was we provide services based on need.
100So some schools have children that that are in greater need. So they're going to need more services. So I don't understand why you would want to show that every school is getting the same amount and some schools are getting more than they need. >> Yes. So that question's come up in years past as well. I remember Mr. interviewing asking the same question. And rightfully so, you asking the same question cuz as cuz as we talk about right at the beginning of the presentation, of course, we're talking about, you know, allocating resources, directing resources to those areas of greatest need, which would, you know, presumably, you know, mean that one area gets more than another because based upon the priorities that we've identified. And so, so the >> this requirement does fly in the face of
101that philosophy. And uh because it is a federal requirement because we are a title title one school district specifically related to title one title one the lowincome title one title one part a >> um >> was it just title one monies I mean because certainly some of the schools have more social workers more paras more um >> that wouldn't be >> support >> yeah yeah good true and uh >> but the support staff is not included in that support staff is not included, right? But but even service contracts for um maybe more nurses or but you're not including any staff. So but even forms or I mean uh I don't know I think some schools would need more whatever of everything. So how we handle that if it's a district-wide expenses we prorrate it across
102the schools but if it's direct services only unique to that school district then we include it in only that school district. That way we can kind of you know spread that out and it won't be skewed uh for the reason that you just explained. Um, we actually some time ago spoke to uh the president of Asbo because we expressed a concern just like you like we're trying to meet the needs of the schools but you're forcing us to get everybody equal money. It's to it's an oxymoron, right? So, like why are we saying that we're trying to meet need when we have to put so much into this? Because all of our schools are lowincome uh schools. We're required to do this. So, it was a very good question and that's why you saw the
103business team kind of chuckle because it was also our question for many years like why do we have to do this? But it is a requirement if we want to continue to receive title monies. So we have to do it. You also see that amount 10 million, >> right? It's only 10 million. >> Not ever. >> Yeah, I was gonna say 700 per kid. Like >> I do that in my household in a month. Kids are expensive. This is Yeah, the the math isn't mathing there. But um also we have to understand that's an average. So you may have to pull more for one kid over another. Uh, Miss Hannah also wanted to clarify, and I know you did last time, but I could not remember. Glenwood was pulled out separately, um, and is receiving
104a significantly lower rate than the other, uh, elementary K5 schools. So, the question is, why are they at 450 per pupil with a significant decrease compared to the other K5? >> Yeah. So, that's based upon the uh, budget request that was submitted by that building. So, they got what they asked for. And I would like to reiterate, Miss Pulk asked me to reiterate again that 10.9 million um I know we kind of chuckled a little bit about it, but that is in in addition to all of the central office money >> that's going out into services to support students. >> No, we we spend way more than 700 a year on a kid. >> Yes, that's that's I wish I spent on my kids. Okay. >> So, um this slide it speaks to uh what
105we're going to do pivoting, right? And so the superintendent uh might want to chime in on this one. um what are we going to do if there's reductions in revenue uh or we have unexpected expenses? So, one of the things we're going to continuously uh review staffing levels and staffing efficiencies. Um we've had those discussions with uh the superintendent and we're monitoring that. uh she's given us directives uh to look at some things. And so uh that's one of the things that we we're going to do and we've started to do uh communicate with legislators about district needs. Uh we we've already uh the superintendent has already sent one letter out and we've spoken with a uh politician about uh the potential of getting additional uh resources. So uh we're always doing that and then
106um the our grant manager is always uh seeking uh opportunities and other grants in order to get additional funding. So we we're looking for other uh streams of revenue. Uh progress monitoring um that that is one of the things that uh Dr. Cecerio has has really been pushing us uh on and uh creating a module in um infinite I always call it infinite campus >> I visions I don't know why I'm saying yes. So, I visions so that um departments and schools and divisions and districtwide can monitor uh how they're spending their money and ensuring that we're getting return on investment. So, uh, we have training, uh, for that that's scheduled on Thursday. And so, we're excited, uh, about that to be able to, uh, help the district and help ourselves to monitor how we're
107spending. Uh, review of contracts. Um, Miss Miss Vanderbrock is uh, if I could call her eagle eye, she uh, looks at these contracts and she is ensuring that uh, we minimize uh, our uh, liability and also uh, the superintendent and the deputies and everyone else is uh, looking at contracts to make sure that they're still relevant and um, and and we're streamlining streamlining and in that regard. card. Uh one of the things that uh we've we've done in recent years rather than to do uh one-year agreements uh they're looking at multi-year agreements is there sign significant savings we're doing uh multipleear agreements. So we're we're looking at those type things. Uh, of course, this is uh one of the things that we're doing tonight because the superintendent wanted us uh to not only do our
108traditional budget workshop three, but also to give the board and the community uh a update on the financial uh welfare uh of the district. And so we're doing this tonight and I'm quite sure she's going to ask us on future occasions uh to do uh the same thing. And so that's what we're attempting to do tonight. And then of course to continue uh to monitor the executive orders and legislative uh updates because that's what's really going to impact uh what our revenue is going to look like not only for uh this year but the years to come. >> Right. Super. >> Yeah. >> I'd be um mistaken if I did not state this. One thing when we said review of contracts one thing the board um we will be having more discussions on multi-year contracts
109and what does that save the board what is the position of the board so there's going to be a lot of conversations with conversation with the administration and the board of education on how we can save money and then um I want to touch on ongoing updates um as we come back from the school year I've asked um the business office to plan a financial update to our community where we will give a series offormational um I I'll say informational meetings, Google meets with our community on where we stand, what does it look like for the upcoming school year, what are some of the executive orders we see, where are some concerns, how they can have how they can help and what they can expect from us, right? Um so you should be seeing that
110come out. Um once we get settled, we're looking at September we start launching that series. Um and we have done that in the past. Any questions there? Next slide. And so of course uh we're going to continue uh to sustain the district's positive financial outlook. That speaks to what you were concerned about uh Miss Hannah. Uh we were aware of the potential impact of the Esser cliff and we took the the precautions as I stated earlier to ensure that we were uh not going to fall privy to to that. Uh we're also as I've said before monitoring the presidential orders. We're everything that I said in the previous slide is really a little bit more wordy here but uh that's basically what it's saying. Yes, Miss Fabian. >> And I would be remiss if I
111didn't say thank you to all those on the negotiating teams on both sides. Um I remember that lovely strike because I was out there. Um but really in the past where we had no contracts for a while or one-year contracts to now, if you looked at the slide, we have three to fiveyear contracts. That also helps us plan and budget better um and keeps our cost level so we can fully project, you know, 3 to 5 years out. And I know that you guys are currently in negotiations now. So again, um just thank you to both teams for really looking out for the staff and looking at, you know, the fiscal responsibility of the district. >> Uh next slides uh will be presented to us by um Miss Hennessy. Welcome, Miss Hennessy. >> Uh, just
112give us a moment. We Yeah, >> hear me? >> Yes. >> Okay. Good evening. Um, I'm going to present tonight on the district's debt. Um, if we could go to the next slide. Can you hear me? >> We're on the next slide. Yes, we're on the next slide. Sorry. >> You're on the next one. Okay. Funny. I'm on YouTube and it's not on the next slide. Oh, there it is. Okay. Gotcha. It's >> like a 30 second delay. >> Okay. Um, so here we're talking about the district's statutory debt limit. This refers to how much the district can borrow, but um most of this borrowing is requires a bond referendum. So the district has 50,165,000 of principal outstanding. Its debt limit is 183 million leaving a net debt limit of 133,126. um that is 72%
113of its debt limit is available. So I think this is the highest the debt limit's been in a number of years. So that's a good thing. Next >> we're there. >> Okay. Well, I have it on my screen so hopefully you're seeing it on your screen. What this chart is is looks at the outstanding debt service. the principal and interest payments on debt and the tax rate for debt which is part of your total tax rate. So starting on the left hand side we've got the equalized assessed value in 24 it went up 10.28% to be conservative we're not assuming any other increases going forward. And in the pink column, you've got the debt service payments, which are 5 million or under each year, and they're paid off in 10 years by 2035. Um, so
114those payments result in about 37 on the tax rate. For the owner of a $100,000 market value home, they're paying about $93 on average per year for the debt portion of their tax bill. And that is well below what those payments used to be. In the middle of the page, you'll see the highlighted green is the nonreferendum DEB or debt service extensionbased capacity. The district does have the ability to issue some nonreferendum bonds. And this column represents debt the district could leverage in the future if you need additional bonds for uh capital projects. Next slide. >> We're there. >> Great. So I wanted to just do some debt highlights since 2010 because the district really has come a very long way. Um so in 2010 the district restructured its outstanding debt service to make the
115payments a level as opposed to increasing payments which they were pre recession because if you remember in 2010 and thereafter values started to go down and tax rates started to go up. So we counteracted that by stabilizing the debt. We also did a refunding at that time which saved over 652,000 in interest costs. Then in 2011, the district applied for and qualified for a capital development board construction grant from the state of Illinois in the amount of 28.3 million if it could provide matching funds of 9.6 million. and it did so by going to a bank and getting a lowcost loan >> that paid interest only until the year 2015 when its debt capacity for non-referendum bonds became available again. So at that point the district refunded that balloon payment on the 2011 loan with
116nonreferendum funding bonds. Those were the 2015 A and B bonds. Then in 2016, the district uh was awarded a qualified school construction bond for 7 million. So the district had to pay back the principal and is still paying back that principal, but the ill the state pays back all of the interest. So that was in fact an interestfree loan with um for the district. Um then in 2017 we did refund some callable bonds and issued 6 million more of nonreferendum working cash b fund bonds for capital projects in 20 to 2022. The district's importantly retired the remainder of its referendum bonds which went back to the year 2001 when that referendum was approved. that resulted in a tax decrease for the owner of a 300,000 market value home of just under $700. So that was
117significant to the taxpayers. Uh I noticed the earlier slides of course where Gwen was talking also about the fact that the district has held the operating levy steady since 2017. So between that and this payoff of the referendum bonds, it's been a great savings to the community. Then in 2425, the district just issued uh 29.5 million of non-referendum bonds extending the current debt payments 11 years through 2035. And that's for capital projects. I think about 19 million of that is left in the working cash fund which is dedicated to fund 60 capital projects. I'll pause there and see if the board has any questions. >> Um >> Miss Hannah has a question. >> Hi um Miss Hennessy. Um Anita Hannah here. Um I am just wondering um because um the homes are being assessed much
118higher um at this time. And what is the the impact or what will be the impact on um on on like when we um if we say okay increase the taxes how is that >> I I just want to know the impact that it's going Right. Are you talking about that operating levy? >> Yes. Because right now, I don't want to be redundant, but the the assessment of homes are really going up. Therefore, the home values are increasing dramatically. And so how is that impact or will impact um what we're what we're doing? >> So that's a really good question. And when the home values go up because the tax rate and the tax payment, the tax payment is steady, the tax rate will go down. So the tax taxes paid by the homeowner for
119debt are exactly the same. You notice how those payments were 5 million a year. If that home value goes up, the tax rate goes down and the payment stays the same because the actual dollars for debt are the exact same that $5 million or less each year. Now on the operating levy side, um as Miss Tolk pointed out, you've also kept that stable. Um so if the board decides to increase it this year as needed given the third the current financial situation, there will be an increase based on whatever the board decides to levy this November for the 25 levy. And I'd be happy to help Miss Poke estimate what the cost is to the taxpayer on that. But so far, you know, over the last seven levy years, when those payments are exactly the
120same, even if the home value goes up, the tax rate goes down. So, the homeowner is paying the same amount. What happens sometimes is some people fight their property tax assessment and instead of going up it maybe stays the same yet their neighbor does not. So sometimes it's uneven who's bearing the brunt of the taxes uh on the homeowner side and on the commercial side. So you can get some inequity in that case. But in general, when the values go up, the tax rate goes down and the payments the same. >> Thank you. >> Any other questions? That's the end of our presentation, Miss Panda. >> Great. >> You're welcome. Thank you very much. Very enlightening and you answered a lot of our questions and um um really appreciate all the hard work that everybody
121is doing uh to put this not just to put the budget together but throughout the years just to keep the district on on financially sound footing and we have a lot has a lot to be grateful for with the staff that we have. Um if there are no other comments or questions, I'd like to ask for a motion to adjourn. Motion by Mr. McBride. Second by Miss Fabian. All in favor? I >> oppose. Motion carries. Meeting is adjourned at 803. Thank you.