A Vision for the Future

November 18, 2010

Overview of District 97 Finances & Referendum
School Board President Peter Traczyk

A Vision for the Future of District 97

Superintendent Al Roberts

Referendum Sizing

Q&A
 District 97 fund balances are dwindling
◦ Despite 9 straight years of expense reductions
 State of Illinois budget crisis
◦ Directly impacts the D97 budget
 Costs have increased greater than revenue
◦ The Structural Deficit
 Budget for FY11
Revenue
 Local $46,985,933
 State $13,614,991
, ,
 Federal $4,130,460
 Total $64,731,384

Expenditures
 Salary/Benefits $53,921,348
 Oth
Other $14
$14,640,339
640 339
 Total $68,561,687
 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

$0
 Last operating tax referendum was 1989
 1999 capital referendum:
◦ Julian & Brooks middle schools
◦ Small improvements at each elementary school
◦ Debt is retired in 2018
 District 97 has cut expenses in each of the
last 8 fiscal years
 State of Illinois owes D97 $1,657,000 for
fiscal year 09-10
◦ No expectation of timely full payment
◦ State Supt.
Supt announced 10-11 payments to be
delayed
 Other state categorical grants reduced as
much as 25%
 State budget crisis has only affected the
timing of the referendum, not the need
◦ Uncertainty makes referendum sizing complicated
 School Funding Structural Deficit
170.0
BLS - Consumer Price Index - CPI-U (Revenue)
163.7

160.0 BLS - Employee Cost Index (ECI) - State & Local

Employees - Total Compensation (Expense)
150.0 Expense to Revenue Ratio (ECI/CPI)
144 3
144.3
140.0

130 0
130.0

120.0
113.5
110.0

100.0
1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
 District 97 will receive more $ over the life of
downtown TIF than without the TIF agreement
 Reached agreement with Village on
calculation; will receive distributions as cash
 General State Aid is reduced by
y $0.52 for
every new dollar from TIF property releases
◦ If TIF terminated today
y it would not eliminate need
for referendum
 Maintenance of the status quo does not
y
benefit our students or community
◦ Quality of Education – 21st Century skills
◦ Quality of Life in the Community
◦ Property Values

 We can and will do more with less

 Some new expenditures required between
now and 2018
 Restructuring of how we do business on a
day-to-day basis will be required
 We cannot change the State pension system
at the local level
 We cannot change State funding formulas,
reimbursement rates, or timing of payments
◦ State funding will continue to be a significant
problem
 S l i and
Salaries db
benefits
fit are subject
bj t tto contract
t t
◦ We are working with our bargaining units to reduce
expenses
◦ Education is still a market economy
◦ We will continue to target pay to the median of the
B i h Red
Bright R dAApplel school
h l cohort
h
 Administration has identified additional
permanent reductions of $ 740,800
◦ Permanent decrease of 1.08% of budget beginning
in 2011
◦ Administrative pay freeze
 Further reduce administrative positions
 Revisit student fees, playground supervision fee
and introduce technology fee
 Restructure the SIT teams
 Investigate staff attorney in lieu of retainer
 Reduce early childhood coordinator to half time
 Eliminate one OT and and Speech teacher
 Redefine the needs for # of Teaching Assistants
 R
Reapplyl th
the 1½ mile
il standard
t d d ffor b busing
i
 Investigate grade-level attendance centers with
increased class size
 Simply reducing expenditures will not solve
the structural deficit
◦ Need to reduce the annual budget by $6,000,000
or more.
◦ Requires cuts that would severely impact the
quality of education for our 5,500 students
________________________________________________________________________________
PERSPECTIVE
 $6,000,000 = The release of every single administrator + 34 certified staff
 If every employee took a salary freeze, the district would save $1,400,000
Total Salary Amounts:
Teachers Aides (101) $2,129,181
Clerical (47) $1,866,564
Administration (31) $3,631,713
Custodial/Maintenance (52) $3,055,454
Teachers (466) $35,261,001
Description of Services Estimated Savings
 Reduce district office administrator $120,000
 Reduce district office support
pp staff $100,000
$ ,
 Eliminate Support Specialist $320,379
 Eliminate one secretary per school $450,000
 Eliminate sports and after school activities $106,000
 Eliminate
ate Cast a
andd Bravo
a o $212,000
$ ,000
 Cut elementary instrumental music $568,394
 Cut festivals $ 35,000
 Eliminate art $884,577
 Eliminate Multi
Multi-cultural
cultural Center $199,335
 Early childhood coordinator to half time $ 35,000
 Reduce Media Specialists by 50% $340,056
 Eliminate Media Clerks $126,130
 Eliminate Summer school $151,000
 Reduce one Assistant Principal at each middle school $200,000

TOTAL $3,847,871
Dr. Al Roberts
The mission of Oak Park Elementary School District 97 is to guarantee
that each student achieves optimal intellectual growth while
developing socially, emotionally, and physically through a system
distinguished by

• Exemplary instruction focused on each student

• Commitment to the needs of a diverse population

• Meaningful partnerships with families and the

community

• Celebrations of the power of art, music, and language

• Confident students challenged to be educational risk-takers

District 97 offers the children of Oak Park access to a quality
education built on a strong core curriculum.
curriculum However,
However to be
competitive in a fast changing, technologically driven and
globally interdependent world, we must improve the way we
operate both in and out of the classroom.

Some of these improvements—strengthening the instructional

framework and enriching the curriculum—can
curriculum can be accomplished
through changes that can be made relatively inexpensively.

Others
Others, such as the increased integration of technology and the
implementation of new strategies for teaching foreign language
will require an investment of dollars to ensure success.
 Maintaining the status quo does not support our mission, or
benefit our students and community.
community
 Our district is lagging behind in our efforts to provide
students access to enough touches with technology to ensure
21 t C
21st Century
t Ed
Education.
ti
 We must enable our faculty and staff to build each student’s
capacity to develop the skills necessary to function in a new
and uncertain world.
 We need to invest in the tools available to support the 21st
Century
y learners and the development
p of happy,
ppy, healthy,
y, and
productive young men and women
◦ Niceties vs. Necessities
◦ Tools of the Trade
 We must find ways to help every student we serve
be
b successful
f l and
d reach
h for
f the
h stars.
 While we need to do well on standardized tests, we
also need to help youngsters realize the joy of
learning; and to demonstrate deep understanding
of subject matter.
 We have had some successes, but we will not be
successful until 100% of our students are achieving
at h
high
h llevels.
l
 ISAT Passing Rates
(Meets and Exceeds) for Class of 2010: Reading

100
ding 90

80
AT Read

70

60
Reading
g - All
50
% Passing ISA

Reading - Wh
40
Reading - BL
30

20

10

2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

 Very Good A School System
School System that Prepares
Built for the Students for the
19th and 20th 21st Century and
Centuries Beyond

R
C
O CORE
E
ARITHMETIC
READING Reading, Writing, Mathematics,
S
Sociall S d
Studies, S
Science,
WRITING Thinking, Processing,
SCIENCE
SOCIAL Communicating, Working in
STUDIES Teams, Using Technology

Foreign Language and the Arts

for their own Unique Value, and
as Enhancements and
Extensions of the CORE
 Excuses
STOP Teaching Subjects in Isolation with Little Connection to the Real
World. Doing Things the Same Way Even When the Results are
Less than Desired

Move
Providing Teachers with the Tools they Need:
Ahead Staff Development and Training
with Clear and Consistent Focus on Results

Caution

Results Orientation
Proceed Project Based Learning
Emphasis on Creativity and Ingenuity
Integration of Subjects in a Meaningful Way
Challenging All Students
 Establishing a Stronger School Culture

Raising the Expectation and Respect Levels

Already
Moving with Identifying Strategies that Enhance Learning
Caution
Placing Emphasis on Challenging All Students
toward:
Finding Ways to Provide the Necessary Resources

Connecting Evaluation and Performance

 Enriched Curriculum with Global
Perspective

• Interdisciplinary and project-based learning

• Higher level of understanding of core areas
Preferred • Critical thinking and problem solving skills
Future • Communication and collaboration skills
• Information,
Information media and technology skills
• Creativity and innovation skills
• Global literacy skills
• Foreign language
• Ability to apply knowledge to new situations
Administrative and Teacher Quality
Higher Expectations
Thorough and Efficient Use of Data Existing
Focus on Student Achievement Budget
Better Evaluation Process
Availability of the Tools and Programs Needed to Succeed

STUDENT
ACHIEVEMENT
 TECHNOLOGY

 Every child should have access

 Every teacher needs to have access to various technologies
 SmartBoards or similar tech in every classroom
 Computer Labs

 Preferred Future through 2018

 $5,000,000 TOTAL fully implemented and extended tech plan

 FOREIGN LANGUAGE

 Every child bilingual by end of 8th grade

 Daily instruction as a core subject
 New, less labor intensive strategies/programs
 Should reinforce the instruction they receive in their native tongue
 Offer a variety of language options

 Preferred Future through 2018

 $700,000
Preferred Future
Total investment needed through 2018

 Schoolyards as “Outdoor
Outdoor Classrooms”
Classrooms $2,800,000
$2 800 000
 Music $255,000
 Equipment (Audio-Visual) $215,000
 Copiers and Printers $147,000
 Modernize classroom learning environment $1,800,000
 Technology, Foreign Language $5,700,000

 Total $10,687,000
How will we fund this Vision of the District?
 Limiting Rate Increase
◦ Traditional tax rate increase
◦ Permanent; grows with tax cap limits
◦ Rate increase is immediate for taxes paid in 2011
 Working Cash Bond Sale
◦ Fixed dollar amount of new revenue from bond
sales
◦ Additional tax levy expires when debt is retired
◦ Rate increase is delayed until tax bills of 2012
 Economic downturn has affected all of us
◦ Now is not the time to ask for a permanent tax
increase
 Caps the referendum revenue to the district
◦ Any new property value growth will decrease the
burden to existing tax payers
 Creates transparency
◦ Proceeds go into separate fund; must be
transferred to fund expenditures
◦ Board is drafting policy to monitor and report on
management of bond proceeds
 2017: Existing annual middle school debt
payments of $4.46M expire
 2018 Downtown TIF expires
◦ Property released from the TIF provides new
revenue source to District without additional
burden to taxpayers
 Bridging to 2018 allows us to keep the
referendum as small as possible
 Current draft goal is $75 Million
◦ Bridges district to 2018
◦ Includes required permanent reduction in expense
growth of 1.25% starting in 2013
◦ Provides for very modest capital expenditures to
keep pace with depreciation
 to
t be
b completed
l t dbbetween
t 2011 and
d 2018
 12/14 Board Meeting
◦ Finalize size of referendum
◦ Finalize wording of referendum question
 1/11 Board Meeting
◦ Vote to approve referendum question