Lawrence Center, School Transportation Face State Funding Cuts (IL)
August 17, 2010
Lawrence Education Center and the Springfield School District’s transportation programs face state funding cuts, but the school system also could benefit from as much as $6 million more in its main education fund.
Transportation funding from the state of Illinois could be cut as much as 40 percent, officials told the Springfield School Board Monday night.
District business director Leonora Beck said that, while she’s still exploring the implications, the district’s bus services are largely locked in. The district had budgeted for nearly $3.1 million in state transportation funds before learning about the reductions.
“I don’t think we can do much to our contracts or any of the commitments we’ve made for this year,” Beck said. She added that the district might not learn the actual amount it will receive from the state for another month.
“These numbers are still preliminary,” Beck said.
& #x0A;She suggested the district might have to rely on its working cash fund and intra-district loans to cover costs.
Other programs face similar uncertainty, although some of the news is good. Early childhood education programs have been restored. And partial funding has been revived for some programs that previously were going to be eliminated.
However, the Lawrence Education Center’s programs for adult learners are losing much of their funding.
“(We’re) really looking at what the dollar amount is and seeing what other creative ways we can come to support that,” said School Superintendent Walter Milton. “I know that the program has been very successful in the past, and many of those people have been marginalized in our community and society.”
Beck also said the state still owes the district $6.2 million from the previous fiscal year.
On the bright side, the district could receive an additional $2.7 million in general state aid and nearly $3.3 million in federal stimulus funds. The federal grant could be used only for salaries and benefits.
However, those figures also are still estimates.
“They are advising us to not quite plan for it,” Beck said.
In other school board news:
*The school district is considering phasing out traditional textbooks in favor of all-digital texts, according to technology director Sue Ruff.
“I’d love to do it in five years,” Ruff said. “But I don’t know if that’s possible.”
Ruff said the district might try to go all-digital in just a few classrooms first, then gathe r feedback to reassess.
*The board approved new contracts for principals, central office staff members, administrators and other employee groups. All contracts were for one year and included no raises.
However, longevity and other incremental increases were approved in some cases, such as for members of Service Employees International Union Local 15 and some professional and technical support staff. Principals and administrators received neither longevity nor base salary increases.
Pete Sherman can be reached at 788-1539.
Laid-off teachers all rehired
The Springfield School District has hired back all 42 teachers who were let go when budget cuts were implemented this spring.
The rehirings resulted from vacancies created by resignations, terminations and other employee departures, said district personnel director Alexander Ikejiaku.
The rehirings weren’t exactly a surprise. When the cuts were made, district officials had said the probability of rehiring most, if not all, of the eliminated teachers was high.
As of last week, there were 62 new education-related district hires this school year, including 21 first-year teachers.
Ikejiaku said in addition to the 42 rehires, 39 of the 53 contractual employees who were terminated earlier this year also are coming back to work. Those employees are regularly dismissed at the end of the school year and often, but not always, are rehired for the following term.