When Money Runs Short: District 69 Talks Cutbacks

All three of Patty O’Malley’s children attend District 69 schools, while her neighbors across the street go to District 72 schools.

The difference? Huge.

“The equality is just not there,” said the PTA president, on the topic of financial support for the school districts. “All the school districts are funding by different tax bases, and District 69 has a high rental community, while District 68* has Old Orchard shopping."

The Skokie native is quick to stress the financial unbalance in school districts in the north suburbs of Chicago. She describes herself as “frustrated “ about the issue.

Yet she is just as eager to talk about the high quality of education at District 69, where her children were enrolled in second, fourth and sixth grades this past year. With three separate schools located in Morton Grove and Skokie, the district educates students from kindergarten through eighth grade.

So when District 69 Superintendent Quintin Shepherd issued a memo on Valentine’s Day about a proposed “reduction in force,” the PTA president said there was a lot of explaining to do.

“We’re all trying to keep the parents informed, so the cuts shouldn’t have come as a surprise,” said O'Malley, referring to the 11 teachers who lost their jobs as part of the financial shortfall. Eight more teachers resigned for the next school year, as part of the annual cycle of movement to new towns or jobs.  

“The biggest thing parents need to understand is where the cuts are coming from,” she said.

Morton Grove Patch sat down with District 69’s superintendent recently to find out.

The story behind the cuts

Shepherd took over as superintendent almost one year ago, in July 2010, taking the place of an interim superintendent.

“I knew that there was a salary freeze last year, and so I knew there were some financial difficulties here,” he said.

Then when the fall season rolled around, Shepherd said it became clear that the projections for revenue from local taxes and state grants were not accurate.  He said one late payment can lead to an “absolute tailspin.”

“The revenues went down, while the expenses went up,” he said. “Eric Miller, our finance director, started collecting information as fast as possible, because we knew we had get the public involved in a hurry.”

Revenue streams dry up

Shepherd said the decrease in revenue for District 69 is due to a combination of factors, which are hitting schools everywhere as reverberations from the Great Recession. “You cannot point your finger at a person to blame,” he said, noting that public education is supported by local taxes, state funds and federal grants.

According to Shepherd, the perfect storm developed through:

• Late payments from the state of Illinois, particularly in transportation costs
• Cancellation in title grants from the federal government
• Late return on taxes in 2010, as tax bills weren’t due until December (the second installment of taxes are theoretically due in early fall)
• Low property tax base in District 67 (District 69’s equalized assessed value was $500 million, less than half of District 68 at $1.2 billion)

“We are undoubtedly weathering the storms of the tax cycle issues,” said Shepherd. “And we’re a year or two behind what’s happening on Main Street,” he said.

A breakdown of the cuts

Eric Miller, the coordinator of finance and operations, said in an e-mail recently that 11 teachers were cut, and another eight teachers will not return due to changes to where they lived or wanted to work.

The loss of two art teachers means the one remaining art teacher in the district won't have time in the schedule to teach at Madison School (k-2nd grades). Shepherd said that teachers at Madison will incorporate art instruction into their teaching plans, and students will do artwork at their desks.

According to the March 15 memo, the teacher cutbacks broke down this way:

Where the District stands now

The estimated beginning fund balance, or money available, for FY2010-211 was about $6.4 million, while the ending fund balance today is about $6.7 million, according to the school district’s budget form, attached to this article.

District 69 managed to increase the fund balance by almost $300,000. The largest category of costs was in the educational fund, at nearly $17 million, while the smallest was in the transportation fund, at just under $800,000.

Total salaries for the district rang up at about $12 million.

The aftershock of the cuts

Shepherd described the process this past spring as “horrid, gut-wrenching and impossibly difficult.”

For PTA president O’Malley, it further emphasized the need for community engagement.

“We need to get more active; we need to push to bring in more business in our district,” she said. “We felt the brunt of the economic downturn, and the cuts made it clear: Everyone has to pitch in.”

Tomorrow, we hear from one art teacher who was cut from staff, and visit her classroom for one of her final classes.

In the next few weeks, we're tackling some of the nitty gritty details in the budget breakdown, so stay tuned.

*Correction: Old Orchard shopping district is part of District 68, not District 72.