As the Valley View School District 365U school board voted to accept the district’s annual financial audit Nov. 24, officials said they were losing hope that a state legislative bill would be passed and help alleviate the district’s financial woes.
School board members are hoping for the passage of Illinois Senate Bill 16, which would change the formula by which the state distributes school funds, but board President Steve Quigley said at a Nov. 24 meeting that he did not expect anyone in Springfield to call the bill for a vote any time soon in the House this session.
It may be called during a January lame-duck session, but he said there are other forces that may keep it from a vote.
“If they do pass the bill, it bodes very well for this district,” Quigley said. “But there are a lot of other districts that will be harmed financially, so I don’t see the bill being called by the leadership.”
Adding to the district’s murky financial future, the income tax increase passed in 2011 will expire on Jan. 1, Quigley said, further affecting school funding.
“The state will have an enormous budget hole to fill,” he said.
Quigley said he expected a lot of “political gamesmanship” to take place as legislators seek to fill those budgetary holes.
“We’re going to be watching very carefully,” he said, to ensure “they don’t balance the budget on the back of education and local government.”
As at past meetings, Quigley encouraged residents to contact their lawmakers regarding the bill.
The bill would push forth a revision to the state aid system for schools, a system that has not been changed in 25 years, Gary Grizaffi, the district’s assistant superintendent for administrative services, said at a meeting earlier this year.
Valley View would receive as much as $8.5 million in extra funding if the bill passed, he said, a balm that would provide a balanced budget and a modest surplus.
Superintendent James Mitchem called the bill and unequal state funding of schools “a question of equity in eduction” earlier this year.
Also at the Nov. 24 meeting, board members voted to accept a bid for a comprehensive “Integrated Pest Management” program for the district.
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The program, under the jurisdiction of the state’s Department of Public Health, achieves pest control via a variety of environmentally friendly practices that take aim at the practices that allow pests to flourish.
Under the plan, chemical controls only are used as a last resort after considering nontoxic options, according to district documents.
Mount Prospect-based Wil-Kil was awarded a 32-month contract based on its low bid of $37,280, according to district documents.