D146 Candidates on How Best to Fund the District

The following question was asked of all candidates running for Community Consolidated High School District 146’s Board of Education in the April 9th election.

Answers are listed in the order they were received.

Revenue from the state continues to dry up, while residents are also dealing with rising costs. Please rank the following in the order you feel the district should be focused on for meeting the district’s costs in light of these issues. 1) Staff Cuts 2) Contract Renegotiations 3) Operating Expense Cuts 4) Tax Increases 5) Other Funding Sources. Please also explain your reasoning.

Amy Connolly

The portion of our annual budget that is related to State revenues is relatively small compared with other school districts. District 146 is lucky to be insulated from much of the financial impact of the State of Illinois’s inability to manage its own pocketbook. We have a solid financial position, a balanced budget, and a healthy fund balance that allow us to weather financial storms. Our School District should always look at ways to tighten our belt and save money where we can. A belt-tightening effort is already underway as part of the District’s Finance Committee, which I co-chair. I do not believe that our District will need to consider staff cuts or tax increases if we continue to manage our monies carefully.

Tim Frederickson

We already receive a small percentage of our operating budget from the state, and while I would continue to press the state for as much of the funds as they promise, I think that our district finances are very healthy. I think that making sure that the district continues its tradition of strategic use of funds and resources will be very important.

Vincent J. Aiello

1. Operating costs, 2. Tax increases (Not raising taxes) 3. Staff Cuts 4. Contract Negotiations. I think we have to focus on delivering the best education possible within the means we have, and discuss where cuts could be made to save money, and not raise taxes in the process.

Denis Ryan

District 146 has been an excellent steward of the districts finances. We havereceived financial recognition from the Illinois State Board of Education for 14-plus years. With me on the board we will continue that trend. I am the board member who looks at all the expenses every month and will question what is spent, why and for what purpose.

#1 Operating Expenses; I look at the budget every month. We have one of the finest business managers in the area, together as a member of the finance committee and aboard member we share common values. Two of our schools were obsolete, a decisionwas made to rebuild one school and combine to schools. We built a new Fulton, on time, under budget and the building is much more efficient. We were able to reduce the administrative costs of running 2 schools to one, saving the district over $500,000 peryear. It will pay for the schools construction costs over time, that’s smart and that’s whatour taxpayers deserve.

#2 Other funding sources: The State of Illinois has an obligation to fund public education. They have failed to do so and each year we receive less money from the state. I want Illinois to provide more funds to our district. They say we are a “Rich District” that means local property taxes will support the school. Illinois provides about 5% of the budget where I believe they should be giving us 30 to 40%. While one board member, Amy Connelly, suggested we forgo funding from Illinois I think that would be financial suicide. It would increase local property taxes more.

#3 Tax Increases: I am anti-tax, our residents provide more than 85% of our budget from local property taxes. Illinois has an obligation to fund public education. They don’t, we will lobby the state for more funding, look for more grants and partner with other organizations like Target and Wal-Mart who support local schools.

#4 Staff Cuts: we monitor our staff and work very efficiently. Because we are a smallerdistrict and do not have a large influx of changes in our residents we can make fairlyaccurate projections for staffing. No Staffing cuts are planned.

#5 Contract re-negotiations: WE WILL NOT DO IT!!!!! We have fair and equitable contracts with our employees. Our last teacher contract was ratified with a 95%+/-approval. We respect our teachers and our support staff. It is a combinations of teachers, support staff, administration and the right board that are making District 146 into the finest district in the Southland.

Julie Jackson

3, 5, 2, 1, 4- We have a history of being fiscally responsible. We will continue to look for ways to cut unnecessary costs without having a direct impact on the classrooms or the taxpayers. We recently abated $1 million back to the taxpayers over the next 3 years as a sign of our commitment to keeping their taxes lower.

John Carey

1. Other funding, 2, Operating expense cuts, 3. Contract renegotiations, 4. Staff cuts, 5. Tax increase. The last two things I would want to do would be to cut staff or ask for a tax increase from the district. It is just too burdensome in this economy. I chose the other three in the order that I did because I feel if we all work together we can get through this crisis with minimal hardship on anybody in the district.

--------------

Join Patch! Create a free user account and join the discussion: 

• Tinley Park
• Oak Forest
• Orland Park 

You'll be subscribed to the free daily newsletter and breaking news alerts.