The agenda is out for tomorrow’s (9/28) Board Meeting. This is the public hearing on the FY27 budget and the board is expected to vote on it tomorrow as well. This is also the last board meeting before the October 13th meeting, where the district will present its plan for $20 million in cuts.

Meeting time and location: 6pm for public (get there a few minutes early if signing up for comment), JEH Education Center, 1500 McDaniel Ave.

Note: the District held three listening sessions at the middle schools last week. Anecdotally, reactions seemed mixed, with heavy skepticism that input would be considered versus a performative exercise, frustration with limited time for questions, and a feeling of a repeat of last year. Some folks shared appreciation for the added clarity and chance to ask questions.

We tried to capture all of the written feedback from the three sessions, and will send out a summary of that prior to the October 13th session where the board will review the administration’s implementation plan for the cuts they have announced. It’s important that others who couldn’t attend can see the range of feedback, questions, and ideas from the community to inform their own perspectives and plans for advocacy, and we’re not sure the district will provide a comprehensive list.

A quick overview of what’s in the 9/28 agenda:

• The official budget form for submission to the state board of education, and a report and memo providing context for what’s in the budget for the general budget and for Park School. The budget isn’t much different than what was presented previously. More breakout on the budget items below.

• The SY26 Achievement and Accountability Report, which shows some concerning results and trends on the academic progress and school experience of our children. More detail on that below.

• Salary/compensation reports for Admins, teachers, and staff making over $75k (this is an annual report).

• An outline of buildings & grounds projects planned in tandem with Health Life Safety projects for 2027 and 2028. These are mostly at the 3 middle schools, and a roof at Walker.

• Other standard items.

    **The Budget**
  

• FY27 (July 2026 to June 2027) is budgeted at a $5.1 million operating deficit. About $3.6M of that is a one-time payment to finish Foster School’s construction. Without it, the gap is about $1.45 million.

• Reserves are projected to end the year at $39.3 million, about 78 days of operating cash. That is roughly $6.9M below the Board’s own policy floor of 90 days (25% of annual spending).

• The (relatively) small FY27 operating gap doesn’t mean the problem is close to solved. The budget report’s table shows reserves running out during FY30 if nothing changes. This is the same projection the district presented on September 14.

• The district has said it will bring a roughly $20 million FY28 reduction package to the Board for action in November. Given the painful and seemingly impromptu cuts proposed to counselors, librarians, crossing guards, SACC, and more last year as we tried to find $6.3 million in cuts, we know that this $20 million plan will be shocking to our community in the depth of cuts and breadth of impact to our children.

• Special education and transportation estimates are lower than last year’s actual spending. Worth a question on their plan if costs go up based on student needs.

• The state’s Limitation of Administrative Costs worksheet shows these line items rising 4.0% over FY26 actuals. That’s within the state’s 5% cap, but “reduce central office administration” was a top community priority the district itself reported in September. It’s reasonable to ask how central office will share in FY28 reductions.

• Under Illinois’s Evidence-Based Funding (EBF) formula, D65 is a Tier 4 district at 134% of “adequacy.” That means the state considers local property taxes more than sufficient to fund us. D65 receives only $6,508 more than the $8.3 million received last year. One example of how our revenue doesn’t keep up with inflation. Whatever the solution is- cuts, closures, referendums, TIF funds, etc., it will likely be local.

  SY26 Achievement and Accountability Report

  This report provides an overview of the 5Essentials survey, state testing results, and information about the learning environment for our students.

• A letter from Dr. Witherspoon highlights some positives “Our students are making real academic progress. On the Illinois Assessment of Readiness, 58 percent met or exceeded grade-level expectations in Language Arts, surpassing our five-year Strategic Plan goal a full year early. In mathematics, growth rebounded strongly at every grade level. Our youngest readers are thriving in two languages. Attendance improved for the fourth consecutive year. These results reflect the persistence and care of our educators and the resilience of our students.”

  • A highlight from the report shows our reading scores (Illinois Assessment of Readiness (IAR) in Language Arts) surpassed its goal a year early. 58% met or exceeded expectations, up from 40.6% in SY21-22.

• The challenges indicated in this report are significant. As indicated in Dr. Witherspoon’s letter:

  • Wide gaps persist by race, income, disability, and language

  • Far fewer children report feeling engaged in their learning.

• Additional findings within the report include stalled or regressive results from the SY22 baseline

  • Increases of suspension incidents

  • Virtually flat or declining percentages of children meeting college readiness, MAP, and IAR benchmarks

  • Supportive Environment and Ambitious Instruction have dropped significantly from already low numbers.

  • Opportunity Gaps analysis shows some promise in student growth, but the gaps are wide and widening in many areas.

    • From the report: “85% of White students were proficient or above in Language Arts compared with 41% of Black students; in math the gap runs from 77% to 19%. Proficiency for students with IEPs (26% ELA, 19% math), English learners (27% and 16%), and low-income students (42% and 23%) trails the district substantially. STAR benchmark data show the same pattern, with 27% of Black students and 37% of Hispanic students at or above benchmark in reading compared with 77% of White students. The current pace of growth alone will not close these gaps.”

    Some questions worth raising Monday (public comment or email to the Board)

• How will central office administration share in the ~$20M FY28 package, given it’s growing 4% this year?

• Assuming the anticipated $20 million in cuts in FY28, how long do you anticipate the district having at least 90 days cash on hand?

• Recognizing the school year is only a month in, when can we expect a reasonable estimate of actual savings from both school closures?

• Given that the forensic audit has been completed, when can the public expect to see the details?

• How are you reconciling the concerning results from the Achievement and Accountability report with the cuts you are considering?

• What is the district doing to assess what is demonstrating efficacy in some schools, and working to replicate or integrate across all schools?

• When the cuts have been decided, will the board be able prioritize discussing the academic environment for our students, ways to improve student experience and close opportunity gaps?
  • Will the ability to address these issues be a priority when deciding on our next superintendent?

• What assumptions produced the $1.85M drop in out-of-district tuition and the $0.57M drop in special ed transportation? If placements rise, what’s the plan?

• What is the potential revenue impact of higher cash reserves?
  • At what level of cash would our financing terms be more favorable, thus costing less to borrow?
  • How much interest or investment returns could we anticipate for every $10 million more in in our operating fund?
    What comes next
• Tuesday October 13, 5pm: Committee Meeting on the FY28 financial plan package
• Monday October 26, 6pm: Regular Board Meeting
• Monday November 9, 5pm: Committee Meeting
• Monday November 16, 6pm: Regular Board Meeting