“Weathering the Storm”
In last year’s finance article, I described some of the events taking place that were impacting school systems throughout Illinois. The instability of the economy, declining property tax revenues, and the increase in unfunded State mandates created the “perfect storm.” This column will highlight our efforts to “weather” this storm, discuss the funding woes at the State level, and comment on prospects for the future.
“Holding Our Own”
Morris Community High School has been able to avoid the massive reductions-in-force that have occurred in some school districts due to a number of factors. Our enrollment has remained stable, which has helped us maintain very reasonable average class sizes. We have built a modest education fund balance through a variety of cost reduction and containment strategies. We reduced our teaching staff by three and saved more than $190,000 when we moved from a block to a traditional daily schedule. As veteran staff members retire we generally replace them with less expensive teachers and absorb positions when practical. Between 2009-2013 twelve staff members will have retired or are retiring. District #101 will save over $137,000 next fiscal year through retirements and attrition. With nearly 70% of district expenditures coming from personnel costs, the savings from these retirements helps offset the negative impact of declining revenue from local property taxes. It is often difficult to replace the contributions of veteran staff members, but from a financial point of view the positive impact cannot be overlooked.
We are working hard at improving efficiency and cutting costs through sharing services with other school districts. MCHS saves more than $30,000 annually by sharing technology services with the Grundy Area Vocational Center. By sharing special education transportation with District 54 and District 60C, MCHS has saved over $100,000. In our first two years sharing regular education transportation with District 54, District 101 has saved over $25,000 each year.. The shared services committee continues to explore ways to reduce expenditures in the areas of purchasing, technology, transportation, and personnel.
MCHS refunded the 2003 debt certificates issued to fund our much-needed building renovation project and will realize a savings of $214,000 over the remaining life of the certificates. The recent adoption of the amended TIF agreement with the City of Morris provides the district with a steady stream of capital improvement dollars that are critical to building upkeep, bond payments, classroom equipment, technology, and other capital needs. The district continues to maintain one of the lowest overall tax rates of any high school district in Illinois and our $.92 education fund rate is among the lowest 10% in the State. Student fees have not increased in the last six years.
The board, administration, and staff remain committed to working together to “hold our own” through these very difficult economic times.
“State of the State”
The funding and economic woes of Illinois are well documented and publicized. I have always taken the approach that it is counter-productive to complain about matters that are out of my control. Currently, MCHS is owed $237,000 by the State and I expect we will only receive approximately half of those dollars by the end of this fiscal year. General State Aid has been reduced and payments prorated to a point where the instability of those revenue sources makes it very difficult to budget accurately. Through personal contacts and various professional associations, we have worked with our local legislators to make sure they understand the financial pressures unfunded mandates place on schools. The requirements of SB7 and adoption of the Common Core standards add additional resource pressures to an already dwindling revenue pool.
There is a great deal of momentum in Springfield to shift the responsibility of pension payments from the State to local taxpayers. If this shift becomes a reality, it would cost MCHS an additional $357,000 annually. Without a way to generate additional revenue, it may become difficult to offer our current level of programming. This is a development we are following closely.
“Guarded Optimism”
As a young social studies teacher I had the privilege for seven years to teach all sophomores a class in positive attitude, goal setting, and relationship building called ‘I Can.” It was based on the work of motivational speaker and writer Zig Ziglar. A by-product of this assignment is my generally optimistic outlook on difficult situations. I hold a sense of “guarded optimism” as it relates to school finance because I believe some positive changes are on the way for our area.
The Grundy Economic Development Council, County Board, and City of Morris are all working hard to attract business and industry to our area. With the opening of the Brisbin Road interchange east of Morris industrial growth is likely to follow. The County, GEDC, and taxing bodies recently worked together to designate the second EDPA designed to generate industrial development on the Midwest Generation site. Our local taxing bodies are working to settle pending tax litigation with Midwest Generation in an effort to promote the redevelopment of that valuable site. Clean Line Energy is looking to take advantage of EDPA #1 which should generate future revenue for the district.
With continued cost containment and reduction efforts, sharing of services with other districts, and working together with local agencies MCHS can continue to move forward and provide the best services possible for our students, parents, and community.
“Weathering the Storm” will take he combined efforts of many!
For more information about Morris Community High School visit www.morrishs.org or Like us on Facebook @mchsdistrict#101 or follow us on Twitter @mchsdistrict#101
