The District 202 Board of Education at its regular meeting on January 28, 2013 approved putting the district’s proposed amended 2012-13 budget on public display for 30 days as required by law.

Click here to download the proposed amended 2012-13 budget

The proposed amended budget still shows a projected operating fund deficit of about $1.8 million. While any deficit is not ideal, the current one is about $7 million better than what it was in September 2012.

The Board of Education in September adopted the 2012-13 budget with a projected $8.9 million operating deficit.

The Board at that time emphasized at that time that the district had to file the deficit budget to meet state deadlines, but that an amended budget would be adopted later following additional work to reduce the operating shortfall.

Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations Angela Smith in November presented a plan for reducing the deficit through about $2.4 million in new revenues and $4.6 million in savings.

Information about state funding for this fiscal year became clearer since September allowing for the budget to be amended, Smith said.

Most of the new revenues are in the form of additional Title 1 and transportation funds that were not available last fall. Likewise, most of the savings comes through eliminating unfilled positions and various operational reductions.

The Board of Education is expected to vote on the proposed amended budget at its March 18, 2013 regular meeting.