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the frankfort station | October 27, 2016 | 5
Lincoln-Way D210 Board of Education
Past, present financial status of schools examined at meeting
Board members to
address negative
student activity fund
balances on Nov. 17
Meredith Dobes
Freelance Reporter
For the first time in
more than one year, there
was no comment made by
any member of the public
Thursday, Oct. 20, during a
regular meeting of the Lincoln-Way
Community High
School District 210 Board
of Education.
The board focused on
the present and future of
its financial situation and
also spent time recognizing
student achievements and
the work of its three principals
for National Principals
Month.
Superintendent R. Scott
Tingley reported that the
district made a tax anticipation
warrant payment of $20
million to Old Second Bank
and borrowed $13 million
to start the fiscal year. He
gave reports on revenues
and expenditures for each
of the district’s funds.
In many cases, revenues
had increased, and expenditures
had decreased yearto-date.
Tingley said that for the
total operating fund, revenue
was up 10.6 percent,
and expenditures were
down 11.4 percent compared
to last year.
“I don’t believe we’ll be
able to maintain the 11.4
percent throughout the
year,” Tingley said. “We’ll
need to stay 5 percent better
to capture those savings
we anticipated. We’re on a
good track, and we’ll continue
to monitor.”
Board Member Christopher
Lucchetti requested
the district provide a memo
along with future treasurer’s
reports — similar
to what the district is now
pairing with its student activities
reports — to note
variances in the budget and
offer more context, particularly
for when the district
begins posting its Board-
Docs online for the public.
When the student activities
report was presented,
Tingley said there are eight
negative fund balances that
are to be addressed within
the month, and some accounts
will be closed out.
Director of Finance Kelly
Luzzo said funds from all
remaining Lincoln-Way
North accounts would either
be transferred to Lincoln-Way
East accounts or
split among accounts for all
three schools, depending on
the situation.
Luzzo also said she aims
to have a report to the board
at its November meeting to
discuss how the district can
generally organize its student
activities accounts for
better efficiency and to ensure
there are no accounts
in the group that should
not be categorized as such.
At that meeting, she would
take board recommendations
of what to do with the
accounts, she said.
Looking ahead financially
When the board initially
discussed the amount of
tax anticipation warrants
District 210 needed to borrow
this fiscal year, it was
mentioned that the district
may need to borrow an additional
approximately $7
million beyond the $20 million
total that Old Second
Bank had already approved
for the district for FY 2017.
At the Oct. 20 meeting,
Tingley said that additional
amount may be closer to
$4 million, and with cash
flows and treasurer’s reports,
the district could go
back to banks to show it is
“trending in the right direction.”
“I think we need to pursue,
actively, a bank for
TAWs,” Lucchetti said.
“We don’t know about State
funding or when it’s going
to come. We don’t want to
rely on that. We need to
keep informing the banks
we’re staying on budget.”
Tingley said he aims to
meet with Old Second Bank
in the next week, as it is the
end of the first financial
quarter.
“The quicker we can get
a commitment, the better,”
he said. “That is the most
crucial piece out there right
now. If we need to borrow
from the State, that is not a
good situation.”
Looking even further
ahead, Tingley said the
board would soon need to
discuss its long-term bond
structure, as it has bonds
that will become callable in
2019 and 2023. He is meeting
with financial experts to
discuss options the district
might be able to pursue and
is to bring information back
to the board for discussion,
he said.
Student, staff recognition
D210 students took the
PSAT on Oct. 19, and nearly
2,100 students took the
test, according to Assistant
Superintendent of Curriculum
Tim Reilly.
This year, the PSAT 8/9
is being introduced to the
district’s feeder junior high
schools, and Reilly said this
gives the district a far more
comprehensive report of
student readiness for transitioning
to high school than
ever before.
Because students are taking
the PSAT 8/9, the PSAT
and the SAT, the district is
able to observe four years’
worth of data for each
student in order to track
strengths and weaknesses,
and better help students, he
said.
After taking the first test
in eighth grade, students
receive an online account
with The College Board
that allows them to practice
skills daily that are individualized
by how they did on
the test.
Reilly also announced
that the district received
the results of its report card
from the State. Though
the exact results were embargoed
at the time of the
meeting, he gave the board
an overview of the results,
noting the district improved
in categories of on-track
freshmen, Advanced Placement
participation, graduation
rates and Partnership
for Assessment of Readiness
for College and Careers
scores.
A big piece of the improvement
is due to teacher
assessment, Reilly said. Director
of Instruction Aimee
Feehery and department
chairpersons are currently
providing assessments by
focusing on teachers, using
text evidence in their classrooms,
he added. Students
are being asked to prove
their answers and ideas
by using facts in reading,
math, social science, science
and English classes.
Once student successes
were discussed, one student
from each school recognized
the three principals
— Steven Provis at Lincoln-Way
Central, Sharon
Michalak at Lincoln-Way
East and Monica Schmitt
at Lincoln-Way West — for
National Principals Month.
Michalak was honored
for her positive involvement
in the lives of families
in the East community and
her overall accessibility.
Schmitt was honored for
her commitment to and concern
for the success of students,
and her school spirit.
Provis was honored for his
leadership, accessibility to
students and caring nature.
Other business
The School Board gave
Tingley direction to pursue
a request for qualification
for childcare providers for
the 2017-2018 school year.
The request for qualification
would not bind the district
to providing in-house
childcare services next
year, as the board would
make the final decision after
the RFQs are reviewed,
Tingley said.
If the district is to provide
in-house childcare services
next school year, the board
must make a decision on a
provider by Dec. 15 to give
the provider enough time
to receive approval by the
State before August 2017.
The RFQ will contain a
minimum fee of $60,000
for providers. Tingley said
it costs the district approximately
$12,000 in resources
per school for the childcare
centers, so the additional
money is part of a cost recovery.
The board also discussed
and unanimously approved
a temporary work easement
for the Village of Frankfort
for the far western portion
of the Lincoln-Way East
property, between the soccer
field and homes bordering
it. The district is to
receive $16,500 from the
Village for the easement,
and Tingley said he did not
believe the easement would
have any long-term impact
on East.
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