Board of Education discusses proposed budget

Interim Superintendent Robert Bartels said at the March 24 Board of Education meeting that officials hope to make some additions to the curriculum in the 2022-23 school budget.

Bartels said administrators hope to add math and reading support, American sign language and Italian to the foreign language course list, kindergarten electives such as art, music, and phys.ed and a middle school social worker. An extra social worker was added this year to the high school using Covid-19 funding, but Bartels said the proposed budget would include retaining the social worker and sending them to the middle school to more evenly distribute the assistance.

In athletics, the school hopes to add a varsity girls’ golf team and a varsity boys’ volleyball squad to South Side High School for next year. Bartels also said the district would add an assistant coach position for all teams that do not currently have a paid assistant.

The budget process began in the fall and the proposed budget was first presented during the school board’s Feb. 17 meeting. At that meeting, the board said that the proposed 2022-23 spending plan will be roughly $129.3 million, if approved by voters on May 17. That number would be an increase of over $5 million, or 4.25 percent, from the 2021-22 proposed budget and a 10.3 percent uptick from the 2020-21 expenditures.

The tax levy, which funds about half of the school budget, was also projected to increase by 2.1 percent, according to the board’s February presentation. State Aid is expected to increase by $3 million ­— a 24.3 percent increase. The proposed budget is available line-by-line on the district’s website.

If the spending plan is not approved by voters on May 17, the board would be able to submit the same budget or a revised one for another vote, but if that is not approved, the district would have to rely on a contingency budget. That scenario would prevent the tax levy from increasing, meaning $2.1 million would have to be cut from the current proposal. Bartels said there are some areas where officials could cut if necessary, but officials are hopeful that the budget will be approved.

According to the district’s March 9 budget presentation, the current proposed spending plan would include $1.8 million for building upgrades and repairs throughout the district. The potential new varsity teams would also likely be cut.

The final chance to change parts of the proposed budget will be on April 12, when the board meets again at the high school auditorium at 7:30 p.m.