Illinois Joint Annual Conference Highlights – Nov. 22-24
District 57 School Board Meeting Highlights – Nov. 21, 2019
*School Board Meeting Highlights are a summary/overview of interesting and important decisions, presentations and/or discussions that take place at Board meetings. They are different from the meeting minutes, which give a detailed report of Board members present, personnel transactions, Consent Agenda approval, vote tallies, etc. Meeting minutes are posted on the website as part of the following meeting’s Public Packet.
ILLINOIS JOINT ANNUAL CONFERENCE NOV. 22-24
The Illinois Joint Annual Conference is one of the nation's largest state education conferences and is the premier training event for school board members, administrators and business officials. It is held each November in Chicago and is sponsored by the Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB), Illinois Association of School Administrators (IASA) and Illinois Association of School Business Officials (IASBO). District 57 administrators and Board members had a productive and educational couple days at the 2019 conference on Nov. 22 and 23. They attended sessions such as Executive Search Process, Basics of School Finance: Revenues, Basics of School Finance: Expenditures, and Legislative Issues Impacting School Districts.
Also at the Joint Annual Conference, school board representatives voted on resolutions that establish IASB’s positions on legislation and related matters of public policy. The District 57 Board delegate voted NO on a proposal that would call for the IASB to support legislation that would allow districts to set school safety and student protection policies that would allow trained, armed school teachers and staff. At the District 57 Board meeting on Nov. 21, members discussed the idea of arming school staff members and decided that our district would not support this resolution. The final vote at the Joint Annual Conference was 198 in favor and 249 against. Find more details on this resolution and others in the IASB press release at this link.
SCHOOL BOARD MEETING NOV. 21
Student Recognition
= Lincoln Cross Country: Coaches Steve Shaffer and Amy Nelson honored the Lincoln girls’ Cross Country team. Coach Shaffer spoke about this season’s stellar performance of the team, which he called a physically talented, hard-working, fun group of girls. The team won all the invitationals, was undefeated in the regular season, dominated at the conference level, won sectionals and placed fifth at State out of 27 teams. Coach Shaffer also recognized the member of the boys’ team who competed at State. Dr. Aumiller and President Kowalczyk presented each team member with a certificate.
= Lions Park Robotics: Members of the First Lego League team, Rainbusters, presented research they conducted on storm water management at Lions Park. They researched the problem and evaluated effectiveness and feasibility of various solutions. They proposed that the Board consider implementing rain gardens and porous asphalt to solve the issue of flooding. Team members answered Board members’ questions about pros and cons of the projects, and the Board agreed to investigate installing one of the options, with the possibility of the team being involved in the project.
Presentation of FY19 Draft Audit
Adam Parisi, assistant superintendent, finance and operations, introduced Betsy Allen from Miller, Cooper & Co., Ltd. She explained why a financial audit is necessary, outlined the process and presented a draft copy of the audit for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019. The final audit report will be posted on the District website. As part of the audit, an annual financial report is prepared and filed with the Illinois State Board of Education.
Presentation of Fall 2019 Financial Projections by Forecast5 Analytics, Inc.
Adam Parisi presented the annual fall financial projections. This is done every November after the Board sees the audit. The projections use audited numbers for the fund balances. The Forecast5 Analytics, Inc. model uses an eleven-year view of finances – five years prior, current year, and five years in the future. Forecast5 is a program but the assumptions were provided by the District. Adam showed the budgeted revenues by source, with 91% from local funds, which includes fees and property taxes, 6% from evidence-based funding and 3% from federal revenue. The proposed expenditure allocation indicates 55% for salaries and the rest split among benefits, purchased services, supplies and materials, capital outlay, other objects and non-capitalized equipment. Salaries are based on MPEA and MPESPA bargaining agreements. Allocations for the Capital Projects Fund/construction projects are $4 million in FY21, $3.5 million in FY22, $3.5 million in FY23, $3 million in FY24 and $3 million in FY25. Long-term staffing changes based on District enrollment include replacing 1.0 FTE student services coordinator with an administrator (middle school assistant principal) in FY21. Adam reviewed aggregate projections that show positive fund balances through FY25. He closed by reviewing legislative unknowns of a potential property tax freeze and potential TRS cost shift.
Presentation of the 2019 Tentative Tax Levy
Adam reviewed the tentative tax levy, which is the amount the District will request to be raised from property taxes. He explained the property tax cycle in Cook County and unique issues in the county. The CPI for 2019 is 1.9%. EAV (taxable value in District 57 boundaries) has fallen slightly from last year. 2018 EAV is $658,064,366. When the EAV falls, the tax rate increases, and vice versa. The 2018 tax rate is 3.87. New property growth for 2018 is $934,126. The formula for estimating the levy is EAV x Tax Rate (%) = Extension. Adam stated the District is estimating that new construction will come in at $5 million, which is a high estimate, but it is beneficial to the District to estimate high rather than low. The proposed tentative levy is 3.63%, $26,421,791.
*The FY19 Draft Audit, Financial Projections and Tentative Tax Levy presentation can be found in the Public Packet for the Nov. 21 meeting, at this link.
Superintendent’s Report
= The Prospect and Main TIF District Joint Review Board Meeting was held on Nov. 19 at Village Hall. Adam Parisi and Board President Eileen Kowalczyk represented District 57. The District will receive almost $22,000 from the TIF.
= District 25 informed District 57 it will not be renewing the food service agreement next year because the person in charge of the program is retiring and District 25 plans to cut back on the program. Administration is investigating other options for Lincoln hot lunches, bag lunches for fee waivers, and snacks for the Kids Corner and Circle of Friends programs.
New Business
The Board adopted the 2019 Tentative Tax Levy, approved the Contractual Bargaining Agreement for the Mount Prospect Educational Support Professionals Association for 2020 –2024, approved the contract to purchase Westbrook’s mobile classrooms and accepted the FY19 audit.