More Outgo Than Income in Unit 40 Budget

The Effingham Unit 40 Board of Education Monday adopted a budget for the new fiscal year calling for more outgo than income, following a trend of recent years.

The budget calls for a total funds balance of $14,513,670 to begin the year and $13,641,805 to end the year. The drop includes a deficit of more than $550,000 in the Education Fund.

Unit Superintendent Mark Doan said the Board will need to consider ways to stop the trend of spending more than the District is taking in. He said the Board will have to discuss its options in future months. Asked whether that means programs or personnel or what, Doan said that will be part of the discussions. He noted that the Education Fund balance has dropped from $8.2 million four years ago to $6.2 million.

The Board also posted some proposed policy changes. Doan was asked about legislation the General Assembly passed and Gov. Bruce Rauner signed into law that eliminates automatic "zero tolerance" suspensions and expulsions, and requires that school districts exhaust all other means before expelling students and suspending them for more than three days. The changes are effective in September 2016.

Asked what impact the changes might have on Unit 40, Doan said the rules and regulations as to implementation of the law haven't come down yet, and said he's had no word as to when that might happen. He said he wants to have input from the District's attorneys before addressing the matter.

Kathy Nava-Sifuentes reported on the Summer Food Program that saw a drop in participants this year and on the Mentoring Program that continues to grow. Nava-Sifuentes said she has assigned mentors to 12 new students since the start of school.

Doan also reported on a meeting with Effingham City officials on a possible extension of the life of the Central Tax Increment Financing District by 12 years, to 2035. He said the District has some more questions that need answered. He also mentioned there might be an effort to expand the area of the TIF.

In personnel moves, the Unit 40 Board hired Susan Kinkelaar as a three-hour cook at the high school, Dana Flowers as a Mid-Day Work Program van driver, Vickie Schoenhoff as a Speech van driver, and Donna Niemann as a cafeteria monitor at the junior high. Beverly Lomax was released as a cafeteria monitor at the junior high. Leaves were approved for Andrew Glosser and Diane Tieffel.