CEL: Education would take hit if state cut bus funding; consolidation not a consideration; amended budget presented

[July 23, 2013]  The monthly meeting of the Chester-East Lincoln school board took place on July 17. The meeting was relatively brief, with discussions on several topics.

Superintendent Jennifer Hamm in her report provided some clarification on a couple of issues. The first stems from earlier comments made concerning transportation. In May, Hamm warned the board members and the public that if the state shuts down funding for school transportation, CEL would have only a few years of bus service left.

Since then, Hamm has double-checked with the Illinois State Board of Education, and she made the correction that CEL does have to provide bus service, and should transportation be pulled from the state, the money to run the buses would have to come out of general state aid payments, which would decrease the general education fund.

Hamm told guests present that this issue will come up again for the politicians in the future, and that concerned citizens should be in contact with their representatives to help make sure transportation stays. For 2014, transportation funding as a whole will stay the same, though CEL will receive less money due to cost-cutting measures taken by the school last year.

The second issue Hamm addressed was the persistence of a rumor that CEL and school districts in the area would be consolidating in the future. Hamm said that CEL has never had any plans of taking such action and that she wants to see the comments of such a possibility stop. Hamm also said that while consolidation would result in transforming outstanding debt into debt certificates, the process involved is long and arduous.

"I hope the conversation about consolidation comes to an end, quite honestly, because there has never been any intent from our parents to want to consolidate. It's other people from the outside that keep bringing up the consolidation issue," said Hamm.

She also said that CEL is doing relatively well financially compared with other schools in the state, and so there would be no reason to begin such a process.

As to the school construction, Hamm said that so far, the school is coming in at only $975 over budget, which is very good for a project of such size. Furthermore, there is money coming to the district in the form of grants that have not been received yet, so the figure is still susceptible to change.

Hamm said the construction is set to finish on schedule in 13 days (as of July 17). She said the companies involved have been extremely professional and working with them has been a great experience.

CEL may be looking into switching providers for employee health insurance as insurance premiums increased by 14.5 percent since last year. Hamm said the school was expecting an increase, but not such a drastic one. As a result, several employees have voiced a desire to switch providers. Hamm said United Health Care has provided the most appealing quotes for pricing so far.

CEL will change the lunch schedule, starting with the 2014-2015 school year. Because of the larger commons area that is being constructed, the students will be able to fit into two lunch periods instead of four. The price for lunch in the next school year will also increase by 10 cents. The increase is a required minimum increase set by state regulations.

Before the meeting officially began, the school board held a public hearing for the posting of an amended budget for fiscal 2013. An amended budget contrasts the differences between projected revenues and expenses with the actual revenues and expenses.

Originally, it was projected that the school would take in $2,921,156 in revenue. According to the amended budget, CEL actually brought in revenue of $3,093,007, a figure $171,851 higher than expected.

Expenditures were also higher than was originally projected. Originally, budgeted expenses were set at $2,712,983. The amended budget shows that CEL spent $3,074,418 for fiscal 2013.

However, the superintendent also said that the figure for expenses is a little skewed in the category of capital outlay projects, so the real amount under expenditures is lower.

For now, the school is looking at a remaining surplus of $18,589. That number is still subject to change as end-of-the-year bills are paid by the district.

Allen Shew, the district treasurer for CEL, told the board that he is still having a few technical issues with Skyward in creating his reports. Shew said he is hoping the problems will be cleared up in time for the school's annual audit, scheduled to begin in early August.

As the meeting came to a close, several action items were approved by the board members:

• Approval of the amended budget for fiscal 2013.

• Posting for the position of board recording secretary, as the previous secretary, Teresa Strampp, has resigned from that position. Until the position is filled, Tish Podunajec will temporarily take on those duties.

• Hiring of Jillian Schneider as a physical education teacher.

• Hiring of Jeannie Schutz as a driver for a special education student.

• Hiring of Mindy Spear as a special education aide for grades five through eight.

• Moving the September Board of Education meeting to Sept. 18.

Board members present were Jeff Brooks, president; Lori Birnbaum, vice president; Tish Podunajec, secretary; Kenny Golden; Randy Wolf; and Jason Toft. Superintendent Jennifer Hamm was also present.

[By DEREK HURLEY]