As the state budget stalemate lingers into another year, many area educators have begun considering a worst-case scenario — a school year without state funding — as they start to prepare new school district budgets for 2016-17.
If feuding Illinois lawmakers force public schools to go into the 2016-17 year without money from Springfield, officials at school districts, such as Stevenson High School, say they could rely largely on local property taxes without making any operational changes. But other northwest suburban schools where state funding is a larger portion of their budgets are beginning to consider what they might do if they face a fiscal cliff.
“It could impact School District 21, as approximately 15 percent of our revenue is derived from state resources,” said Kara Beach, spokeswoman for Community Consolidated Elementary District 21.
Because of partisan divide between Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and the Democratic-controlled General Assembly, Illinois has operated mostly without an up-to-date budget since July 1 of last year, when the 2014-15 plan expired.
One exception, as Beach pointed out, has been education. Rauner and state lawmakers agreed to a K-12 spending plan, keeping District 21 and others around the state funded for the nearly finished school year.
As the latest spring session in Springfield winds down, lawmakers still are debating about how they will create a 2016-17 budget. If July 1 arrives without a spending plan for public education and other services, the state would not be able to send money to school districts until it has authorization to say how much. Some educators in this area have wondered whether the state again will extend an courtesy and fund K-12 education even without a complete state budget.
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At Kildeer-Countryside Elementary District 96, superintendent Julie Schmidt said during a board meeting May 17 that she knew of 268 districts — about 25 percent all the districts in Illinois —that have announced how they would not be able to open their doors for the start of school later this year without state money.
She told board members that full funding from the state means $1.3 million would go toward District 96 in 2016-17.
She said no one at the district knows what to expect in Springfield before lawmakers’ spring session is scheduled to end May 31.
“This window is an important time because it’s when grand deals get done,” Schmidt said.
“We’re trying to stay on top of that, but it moves quickly,” she added later.
At Lincolnshire-Prairie View Elementary District 103, superintendent Scott Warren said it was too early to make specific plans, but he noted that drama involving the state budget is on his mind.
The District 103 board is presently considering a spending increase of more than 26 percent for 2016-17, increasing the proposed overall budget at the district to $39 million total. The increase is largely prompted by possible classroom expansions at its buildings.
“We are watching the state situation closely,” he said. “If the state fails to provide funds this next year, we will make decisions to keep the district stable.”
At Stevenson, spokesman Jim Conrey said the school could navigate 2016-17 without state funding, if it comes to that.
District board members during a meeting May 16 set a public hearing for July 18 on its own proposed budget for 2016-17. Residents can weigh-in on the district budget during the hearing, and board members will be able to approve it afterward, Conrey said.
“The state’s budget impasse has much less effect on us than other high schools, particularly those downstate,” Conrey said. “Only about three percent of our funding comes from the state, so nothing is in jeopardy if the stalemate continues in Springfield.”
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