District 87 seeks to add $650K to current budget, board elects new officers

Posted on April 24, 2019
The District 87 School Board placed on file a proposed $650,000 budget amendment, and elected its new officers for the next year. (WJBC file photo)

 

By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – District 87 school administrators recommend adding $650,000 in spending to provide flexibility in the current budget.

Almost half of that amount, some $300,000, is for the education fund while the district waits for a federal grant of $211,645 that won’t come until the next fiscal year.

Another $300,000 would be earmarked for the operations and maintenance fund. Earlier this year, lightning struck Bloomington High School’s chiller plant, which controls the air conditioning. A $100,000 insurance claim might not come until next fiscal year.

Administrators also want to add $50,000 in the district’s retirement and Social Security fund.

There’s sufficient fund balances to cover the spending, according to the district’s chief financial and facilities officer, Colin Manahan.

The school board Wednesday night scheduled a June 12 public hearing on the amended budget.

Meantime, Brigette Beasley’s board colleagues chose her to be the board’s president, and Mark Wylie to be the board’s vice president for the next year.

Beasley works at State Farm and has served on the board since 2016. Wylie has been on the board since 2015.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]

Blogs

Labor Day – Expanding voting rights for all

By Mike Matejka Because of COVID, there is no Labor Day Parade this year.  It’s always a great event for our everyday workers to march proudly down the street and enjoys the festive crowd. If there had been a parade, this year’s Labor Day theme was to be “150 years of struggle: your right to vote.” …

Is federal mobilization the answer?

By Mike Matejka As President Donald Trump threatens to send federal marshals into Chicago, over the objections of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, recall another Illinois Governor who protested the incursion of armed federal personnel into the city.   Those federal troops, rather than calming, escalated the situation, leading to deaths and violence. Illinois poet Vachel Lindsay…

In these troubled times, to my fellow white Americans

By Mike Matejka Our nation is at a unique watershed in human relations. African-Americans have been killed too many times in the past before George Floyd, but the response to this man’s death is international and all-encompassing. I was a grade-schooler during the Civil Rights 1960s. I watched Birmingham demonstrators hosed and the Selma – Montgomery…

Workers’ Memorial Day – Remember those whose job took their life

Looking around our community, when we say employer, most will respond to State Farm, Country, or Illinois State University.   We too often forget those who are building our roads, serving our food, or our public employees. COVID-19 has made us more aware of the risk.  Going to work every day for some people means…