School board considers ways to save

PLAINFIELD -- School officials will have to get creative if they're to chip away at the $16 million deficit in the district's operating fund.

The school board met Thursday to brainstorm on how and where any savings are to be found within the $317 million budget for the 2009-10 academic year.

The board will look for ways to cut costs in areas like maintenance or transportation. But since about 80 percent of the district's expenses are for salaries and benefits, job cuts will be necessary, board members have said.

The board Thursday did not get specific on when or how many positions will have to go.

The district must file a deficit reduction plan with the state detailing how it will eliminate the deficit by the 2012-2013 year. According to budget numbers released in August, the district will see $248 million in expenses and $232 million in revenue this year.

Falling revenues, the loss of key funding sources and flaws in the state education funding system are the main reasons for the deficit, Assistant Superintendent of Business and Operations John Prince said.

The special meeting was called so the board could hold a general discussion on the budget.

"The only true way to resolve it is at the state level," said Steve Langert, a Plainfield resident whose children went to district schools. He told the board that the way Illinois allocates funds is unfair to the district because Plainfield doesn't have a commercial and industrial sector that other areas such as Schaumburg or Naperville do.

Teacher Jeff Hall suggested the district could save money by going to a four-day school week with extended hours.

"Nothing's off the table right now," board member Stuart Bledsoe told Hall. "We're looking at everything."

The board voted last spring to cut more than 80 teaching and staff jobs, which saved about $5 million. Before the meeting moved into a closed session, Superintendent John Harper handed the school board a list of salaries for teachers, administrators and support staff.

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