School Board Holds 'State of the District' Forum

On Monday, the La Grange School District 102 board held a “state of the district” meeting at Park Junior High School and discussed some of the issues facing the district, including finances, enrollment and meeting academic challenges.

Like individuals and other entities, the economic downturn had a major impact on the school district, said Superintendent Warren Shillinburg. He said the state reduced its payment to the district by $1 million for the past school year. Not only was state money reduced, Shillinburg said the state is late in paying the system $1.5 million.

Shillinburg said the economic downturn has forced school officials to comb through the budget looking for cuts. This year district staff found $2.5 million to shave from the budget. Shillinburg said they made those tough choices so the district would not have to seek alternative means of funding, including a referendum. The majority of the system’s funding comes from local property taxes, but since there has been little growth in the tax base of La Grange and La Grange Park, that means a referendum may be likely. He added the district is facing a $2.3 million deficit by the end of 2011. 

“With the cuts we made, we were very careful not to cut any of our programs,” Shillinburg said.

With funding issues, the board wanted to maintain the standards of excellence the community expects, he said. Shillinburg said that included maintaining summer programs for students who need academic assistance, keeping technology current and maintaining reasonable class sizes. He added the school district experienced increased enrollment of 3,020 students, or 17 percent, over the past decade, which has put great strains on class sizes.

Shillinburg told the crowd 80 percent of the budget is aimed at salaries and benefits.

Laura Webster, a teacher at Forest Road School, asked for clarification on the percentage of the budget used for salaries. She wanted to know if the 80 percent figure was for faculty, or if it included all staff in the district.

After being told the monies funded all staff members, Webster asked about possibilities of teachers losing their positions if more financial cuts have to be made.

Shilinburg said that is a possibility, but before making such a decision the board would closely examine scholastic programs to see if set goals were being met. He said if goals are not being met, then it’s likely that program and the staff associated with it would be eliminated. If those goals are being met, he said they would try to find other alternatives.

Responding to increasing demands of academic excellence in the district, several parents asked about excessive loads of homework.  They worried the amount of homework was having a negative impact on their children's time to participate in extracurricular activities.

David May, president of the board, said there are competing philosophies about increasing academic rigors versus allowing time for “kids to be kids.”

Board member Jennifer Comparoni said there is evidence some of the District 102 kids arrive in high school unprepared for the academic demands they face.

“Every minute of the classroom is so precious and we need to figure out how to make every minute count,” Comparoni said.

Liz Williams, a district parent, said she was concerned yearly assessments meant teachers were only teaching to a test and not allowing students to maximize their learning potential.

Shillinburg said the assessments they give are aligned with state standards and they want the children to score well on those tests.