District 170 Supt. Discusses Possible 'Million-Dollar' Deficit

Earlier this month, Supt. Thomas Amadio . This means the district could be facing a deficit.

Amadio sat down with Patch to further explain the possible deficit and what it would mean for the district.

Patch: What is the budget for the 2011-2012 academic year for District 170? 

Amadio: The budget is about $42 million.

How much is the state planning to give the district for general state aid this year?

Total approved general state aid is $19 million for the year, but the state has said that they will probably not be making the last two payments. If they miss a payment, it could cost the district close to $2 million. If we don’t get that state revenue, we could be looking at a million dollar deficit.

When will you know if the state will make the last two payments?

We don’t know. This year they basically said, 'Don’t expect the last two payments,' so we’re not banking on receiving those last two payments for June. Every school district in the state will be faced with the same issue.

How will the district be affected if these last two payments aren’t made?

We may have to cut some of our technology purchases, 21st Century resources and staffing. Things like the distance learning program, we’d have to look into cutting back. Roughly 70 percent of the total budget is for salary and benefits. If it gets bad enough, we’ll have to lay off quite a few teachers and decide how many we could rehire.

Although teachers are the most important staff, you can’t discount what the custodian or the cafeteria staffs do. Everybody is vitally important to the success of the school. When you have to start cutting big money, the only place you can cut is staff. But you have to maintain good instruction.

What was your reaction to the state’s decision?

Honestly, I wasn’t surprised. I know the state is in a tough spot. If it does come to pass that we don’t receive the money, we can withstand a hit.

We hope the state can make those last two payments, but if not we’ll move on from there and make the appropriate adjustments. We have no plans to let it affect instruction or learning for the children. That is our number one priority and we’ll do what we need to do to maintain a safe competent school environment.

What are your feelings about the situation?

I’m always optimistic. I understand the situation the state is in. The world is in a recession. It’s not affecting Illinois alone, so we understand the situation we’re in. We forecasted that the economy was going to get bad, and we planned for that. We can take a hit for a year or two. I don’t want to, but we’ll take the hit and keep the doors open and keep moving forward. We have a lot of good people in place, and I think we’ll come out OK.

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