On Monday night, the Indian Prairie School District 204 board approved a $476.4 million operating budget for the 2026-27 school year.
Up roughly $21 million from last year’s, the budget includes a $5.8 million deficit this year. The district says it is taking or has taken a number of measures intended to save money going forward.
The district presented a tentative budget for the year at a meeting last month, and it then went on public display. According to District 204 Chief School Business Official Matt Shipley, the district’s Business Office received no public feedback on the tentative document, so the budget presented and approved Monday is the same as the one discussed last month.
Monday’s approval marks the last step in adopting the budget, with budget filings due by Sept. 30, according to Shipley. The fiscal year extends from July 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027.
The district’s planned operating expenses for the year total $476.4 million, per the district budget. Operating revenues, meanwhile, are projected to come in at a little under $470.6 million, which is around $15 million higher than the 2025-26 year.
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The operating budget does not include planned capital spending or debt service.
As has been the case in prior years, property taxes make up the majority — about 78% — of the district’s operating revenues, according to Shipley’s presentation on Monday. The budget assumes that the annual property tax levy will include a 2.7% increase based on the Consumer Price Index, or CPI, which is a measure of inflation set by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The district will be looking to adopt its annual tax levy in December, per the presentation.
Salaries and benefits make up more than three-quarters of the district’s planned spending for the year, Shipley’s presentation indicated. He noted that the budget reflects all significant contracts and agreements, including recently approved union agreements.
These figures leave the district projected to spend $5.8 million more than it is expected to take in this year, but the district is still looking at balanced budgets in the years to come. The district’s fund balance will remain above 25% of operating revenues, in line with district priorities, Shipley’s presentation noted.
The deficit is a result of a number of factors, Shipley said on Monday. That includes special education services spending, rising costs for things like transportation and employee benefits and reduced federal funding.
The district is planning to reduce its overall staffing this year by 20 full-time equivalent positions, according to Shipley. Last year, the district reduced its staff by 10.5 full-time-equivalent positions.
Indian Prairie is also attempting to save money in other areas.
For example, it is looking at growing substitute teacher expenses, Shipley said previously, and how the district can control those costs — like minimizing avoidable teacher absences for things like professional development. The district’s school board also recently approved a pay cut for retired teachers who work as substitutes.
The district is also working to categorize its initiatives and the costs associated with them, collecting cost and results data.
As for capital expenses, which are separate from the operating budget, Shipley said the district is expecting to spend around $118 million this year, which is going toward significant work at a number of schools, including Waubonsie Valley High School in Aurora and Neuqua Valley High School in Naperville.
The district is continuing on with its major facilities overhaul, which is being funded by the district selling $420 million in bonds. The bond sale was approved by voters via a referendum in 2024.
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The bonds are to be paid for using a continuation of an existing 37-cent property tax per $100 of equalized assessed value that would otherwise have expired at the end of 2026, meaning the tax rate for residents in terms of their contribution to capital projects would effectively remain flat.
The construction work includes school-specific renovations at Waubonsie Valley High School, Neuqua Valley High School, Metea Valley High School, the Birkett Freshman Center and Gregory and Hill middle schools, as well as district-wide safety and security upgrades, LED lighting installations and other infrastructure projects.
Work on these projects is set to extend through 2032, but Shipley has indicated previously that the district is looking to accelerate some of the work, which would allow the district to benefit from those improvements earlier and potentially save the district money by way of reducing potential cost increases for the work and allowing the district to start repaying the bonds it issued sooner.