Prior to the regular December 2009 meeting of the Board of Education, the Board Finance Committee met again to discuss the long-range financial situation facing School District 21 and surrounding school districts. The situation is a result of factors far beyond the scope of District 21 as the American and global economies have also suffered during the past 18 months. The tax caps that are in place as a result of Illinois law will limit the District's ability to increase revenues for the 2010-2011 school year significantly beyond the 0.1%, as this was the Consumer-Price Index (CPI) from December 2007 to December 2008. This will result in District 21 having essentially the same amount of money during 2010-2011 that the District has had during the current 2009-2010 school year. Of course, even though the District has actually been able to lower specific costs through judicious spending and by carefully negotiating for products and services, many costs continue to climb over time.

Faced with this situation, the Board Finance Committee has considered a number of areas in which additional cuts can be made to further reduce expenditures for 2010-2011 and beyond. Specifically, the administration and Board Finance Committee have sought to identify as many items as possible that would minimally have a direct and immediate impact on instruction. These items, listed below, will be further discussed by the Board at the January 2010 Board of Education Meeting. At that time, as always, the Board of Education welcomes comments and questions from citizens. Items being considered for reduction include:

• Class Size--Current class size targets may be increased, thereby reducing the number of teachers needed and, in turn, reducing salary and benefit expenditures accordingly.

• Administrative Leadership--A reduction in administrative leadership positions, thereby reducing salary and benefit expenditures.

• Special Education Cooperative (NSSEO) Program Takeback--District 21 would assume administration and instruction of a current NSSEO cross-categorical special education program. This would bring students back in current District programming, resulting in a cost savings.

• PDS Program Dissolution--Despite the high value of the existing professional development school program with Illinois State University, this program is supplementary.

• Athletics/Clubs/Activities/Extra-Duty Music/Activity Transportation--The elimination of non-core curriculum before and after-school activities, resulting in lower payroll and transportation costs.

• Professional Development/Extra Work--The elimination of reduction of paid professional development and extra work stipends that could be viewed as extraneous under current economic conditions.

• Staff Supervision Stipends--Reduction of payroll dedicated to before and after school as well as lunch time supervisions, including coverage of bus drop-off and pick-up. This would require changes within the collective bargaining agreement.

• Self-Insurance of Current Health Insurance Plan--Review of potential savings that may be realized from moving the current health insurance plan to a Cooperative environment or on a stand-alone basis.