District 65 School Board to Consider Extending Dr. Murphy's Contract

By Larry Gavin

The District 65 School Board is scheduled to vote on a proposal to extend Superintendent Hardy Murphy's contract for an additional three years at its Sept. 24 Board meeting, say several members of the Board.

The Board discussed the matter in a closed session meeting held on Sept. 10. One Board member told the RoundTable there would be no point in putting the proposal on the agenda for the Sept. 24 meeting if there were not sufficient votes to carry the motion.

Dr. Murphy was appointed Superintendent of School District 65 in June 1999, and his contract has been extended on several occasions. The last time his contract was extended was in September 2004, when it was extended by a four-three vote for three years, from June 2006 to June 2009. Another three-year extension would carry Dr. Murphy's contract through to June 2012.

According to the District's proposed budget for 2007-08, Dr. Murphy's salary for 2007-08 is budgeted at $198,981, plus a $25,000 housing allowance and an $8,000 car allowance.

District 202 Balances Budget For First Time in Seven Years; Concerns for Future Remain

By Jennie Berkson

For the first time in seven years, District 202 will have a completely balanced budget for the 2007 -2008 academic year.The proposed budget of $65,818,653, including all funds, represents a 0.1- percent increase over the previous year's budget. It was presented at a hearing on Sept. 10.

The four operating funds - education, operations and maintenance, transportation and working cash - have a combined budget of $59,819,933, is a 4-percent increase over the previous year's budget.  William Stafford, Chief Financial Officer, said this amount included a one-time use of capital funds in the operations and maintenance fund.  "If this one-time use is excluded," he said, "then there is only a 2.7-percent increase in the budget as compared to last year."

Despite the positive news that this year's budget is balanced, Mr. Stafford reminded the School Board that this will not be the case going forward. According to projections, the next two years will see deficits of $1.2 million and $1.1 million respectively. "We will be facing some tough decisions," said Mr. Stafford.

 

Revenues
The majority of the revenue for the District – 80 percent – comes from property taxes. The amount a school district may levy - called the tax cap - is regulated by the state and is tied to the consumer price index.

The legislature has not resolved the tax-cap issue for this year, said Mr. Stafford, so property tax bills will not be sent until Nov. 1, delaying the collection of revenues by school districts. Because the District will not receive revenues in a timely fashion, Mr. Stafford said, the District could lose $70,000 - $100,000 in interest revenue.

"It is money we generally budgeted for and is not considered cushion. We do provide for some allowance due to interest rate fluctuations and budget it conservatively but it does hurt us," Mr. Stafford told the RoundTable.

Revenues from general state aid and transfers are projected to increase, Mr. Stafford said; others, including categorical state aid and federal aid will decrease.

Expenditures
About 73 percent of the District's expenses are for personnel, Mr. Stafford said.  "Salaries are increasing 3.98 percent and fringe benefits are increasing 3.54 percent for this year," he said.  However, he warned that next year's budget will see close to a 15-percent increase in health insurance.  "We had some economies of scale this year," he said.

Board member Missy Fleming asked how the proposed grant writer for the District might "offset some of the lack of increases."

Mr. Stafford replied that he believed the grant writer could be of help in a number ways.  "In every situation that I've been in, the grant writer brought in revenue that more than made up for their salary," he said.  "There are also a lot of opportunities for capital funding."

"We know that we're looking at some additional deficits in coming years," said Superintendent Eric Witherspoon. "We're going to be faced with some tough decisions.  We know that by having a balanced budget this year, it at least positions us to make some of those decisions and continue savings we have already made."

The District will hold a series of public meetings to provide the community with additional opportunities to learn about the budget and the budgeting process throughout the year. 

The final budget approval will take place on Sept. 24.  On Oct. 25, administrators will meet with the Rotary Club of Evanston and with the District 202 PTSA, and will also meet with the League of Women Voters at a date yet to be scheduled. 

Finance Committee meetings, which are open to the public, will be held on Nov. 19 and Jan. 28.  Mr. Stafford said that at the Jan. 28 meeting, the Board is scheduled to receive an updated financial plan from the consultants, PMA Financial.

Public Hearing on ETHS Budget Sept. 10

· Begin the partnership with Oakton Community College to expand the dual-credit system for course credit;
· Add a grants writer/development position that will also provide development assistance to the new Foundation and increase sources of revenue;
· Add a literacy coordinator and literacy coaches;
· Support literacy and our professional learning community, working closely with Dr. Alfred Tatum and Dr. Jon Saphier;
· Support numeracy through an initiative in the math department;

· Increase interventions that will support students with behavior problems.