The Park Ridge-Niles District 64 Board of Education approved a fiscal 2015 budget that includes nearly $5.9 million worth of capital expenditures.
The budget provides projected revenues of $73.7 million and $78.6 million in expenses, including the capital spending that will be paid out of bonds sold earlier this year. Without debt service or capital projects taken into account, the district projects a surplus of about $641,000.
Capital projects being deducted from the $8.6 million in bonds include improvements to the heating and air conditioning system at the Field Elementary School in Park Ridge and smaller projects, such as the replacement of carpeting, and repairs to concrete and asphalt.
Several costs were uncertain until the opening of the school year, said board President Anthony Borrelli. An additional $250,000 was needed to cover increased transportation costs because the number of students riding the bus rose from 1,800 last year to 2,100 this year.
The board voted this summer to cover the costs of Dell Chromebooks for all students in grades 3 through 8 as part of the district’s technology initiative. Originally, parents were to pay roughly $300 for each computer for students in grade 6 through 8, but the board reversed course to lessen the financial burden. It approved spending an additional $500,000 on Chromebooks.
Becky Allard, district business manager, has said she anticipates lower expenditures on paper and textbooks in the future because of the computers.
The final budget reflects increases in federal funding, including about $200,000 in Title I money for the first time ever. The money helps districts with significant numbers of low-income households.
Salary costs in the budget total nearly $45.5 million, a 5.3 percent increase over last year.
Property taxes are by far the district’s largest source of revenue, and the final budget anticipates receiving roughly $48.3 million — a 1.6 percent increase over last year.
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