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the Lockport Legend | September 28, 2017 | 7
Lockport Township High School D205 Board of Education
FY 2017-18 budget passed
Jessie Molloy
Freelance Reporter
The Lockport Township
High School District 205
Board of Education unanimously
approved its budget
for the 2017-2018 school
year at its Sept. 18 meeting.
The approved budget projects
the district’s total revenue
for the year at $75.24
million with a starting fund
balance $52.04 million left
over from the previous year.
Expenditures are budgeted at
$83.23 million.
Director of Business Services
Stefanie Croix noted
at the meeting that several
changes had been made in
the budget since the tentative
draft was presented in July.
While some changes, primarily
involving payroll, are
always made as the school
year starts, Croix noted that
the changes were more significant
and came later in
the process this year because
of the recent passage of the
State of Illinois’ school funding
measure.
“I made the final changes
on August 31, which is definitely
the latest in the game
we’ve ever had to make
changes, at least as long as
I’ve been here,” Croix said.
The tentative budget had
originally projected revenues
for the year at $73.34 million
and expenditures at $81.23
million.
The increase in expenditures
came primarily from adjustments
to salaries and benefits
as the district finished
hiring for the year. Some of
the increase was also due to
certain expenses budgeted
for last school year from the
ongoing construction project
not being approved for payment
until after the start of
the new fiscal year on July 1.
The change in revenues
was impacted by the new
school funding formula
which bundled certain grants,
including those for special
education and bilingual education,
in with general state
aid. Overall this amount
came in higher than tentatively
budgeted for by the
district. Other significant adjustments
were also made to
reflect actual grant figures
received from private enterprises
and the government.
Croix said she had used place
holder figures in the tentative
document and some of the
grants had come in differently
than she had predicted.
Construction Update
Construction at East Campus
is nearing completion.
The work should be completed
by mid-October so the
new sections of the building
can be opened to students,
according to Superintendent
Todd Wernet.
The areas still in need of
completion include: the multipurpose
rooms, which still
must have floors poured and
fire doors installed, a process
that hit a slight delay when
the wrong doors were initially
ordered; the foods lab,
which Wernet said is “nearing
completion” and will
likely be fully operational by
late October; the science labs
which now only need to be
furnished; and the media center
which is expecting the arrival
of its unique circulation
desk next week.
The construction has taken
a bit longer than anticipated
which has resulted in the extended
rental of the mobile
classroom units, however,
Croix noted, the budget had
accounted for the possible
need to pay or the rentals
through November, so it will
not have a negative impact on
the district’s finances.
In anticipation of the
completion, the board scheduled
a walk-through of the
new construction at 6 p.m.
on October 16 immediately
proceeding the next regular
board meeting.
Testing the water
One other additional maintenance
item was discussed
at the meeting, the need for
the school to undergo water
testing for lead. Last year,
the state and Governor Bruce
Rauner mandated that all
schools must subject to the
testing to prevent a crisis
like in Flint, Michigan. Last
year elementary schools had
to comply, and this year state
high schools must complete
testing.
Director of Facilities Management
Bill Thompson
expressed confidence in the
district’s results.
“I think we’re going to be
just fine,” he said, noting that
the district has been replacing
water fountains with new
bottle filling models which
filter out lead.
“Some of the surrounding
schools have gotten a couple
of hits,” he said. “So it’s possible
we will too, but they
should be easily fixed.”
If a device is hit for having
too much lead, it must be shut
off until it can be replaced
or repaired to eliminate the
problem.
“I think it’s a good thing
we’re getting pushed to do
this and I think we’re going
to have safe drinking water
for all our kids,” Thompson
said.
The testing itself will cost
the district $3,000 that is already
factored into the budget,
and Thompson said he
did not anticipate a high price
on any necessary repairs.
Class Rank Revisions
Finally, the board discussed
the possibility of the
revising its policies and pro-
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