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CCSD66 Notes

Monday, November 23, 2009

Budget 2010


The fiscal crisis was the main topic of discussion at the 77th Annual Fall Conference held in Chicago this past weekend. Over 11,500 board members and school officials gathered in Chicago for this annual meeting and conference. Here are the quick facts for next year's budget: The target budget for next year will be about $26 billion. In terms of revenue the budget is expected to have a $12 billion shortfall based on these facts: $6 billion of the current budget is made up of one time funds that will not be available next year, $356,000 in fund sweeps where designated money has be swept up to pay general bills, $ 4 billion in unpaid bills from last year, $ 1.2 billion in pension payments, and $800,000 in interest payment on short term loans used to pay bills. At this time it appears that 38% of a stagnant budget could be unfunded. The state is almost broke! From now until a new budget is developed you will hear that government entities need to cut to deal with the deficit but unfortunately cutting will not solve the crisis nor can taxes be raised enough to solve this problem.

Three main issues need to be dealt with in the budget crisis:

The issue of unfunded mandates imposed by the state needs to be addressed. A Joint House Resolution (JHR) 74 has been brought forth by Representative Roger Eddy to create a blue ribbon committee to review all mandates and recommend those that are not needed to be eliminated. This would save a great deal of local resources.

Pension reform needs to be addressed and the pension system modernized. Issues such as automatic cost of living increases and retirement age need to be addressed. It is possible that a two-tier system needs to be implemented. The real issue with the five Illinois pension systems is that the State has not made their required payments to support the plans while members and local entities have made payments as required. The pension crisis is a result of the state not addressing government funding and using dollars allocated to pension payments to pay general bills. There is a reason that Illinois is ranked 51st in support of public schools lagging behind 49 states as well as the District of Columbia.

The final crucial issue to be address is the rising cost of medical care and medicare. Costs are rising and there are no funds to pay these bills that impact some of our most vulnerable citizens.

A new funding bill has been presented for consideration. This bill is HB 174 which can be found on the General Assembly web site. Contact you local state representatives and senators and tell them that the the time has come to stop pointing fingers and assessing blame and to get to work to develop a fiscal plan to save Illinois.

www.ilga.gov



Tuesday, November 17, 2009

2009 Joint Annual Conference

This weekend over 9,000 Illinois school leaders and guests will come to Chicago to take part in the Annual Joint Conference of the Illinois Association of School Administrators, Illinois Association of School Business Officials and Illinois Association of School Boards. This is one of the largest state educational conferences held in the United States.

At this conference, we will have the opportunity to gain information and share insights in school governance in a variety of settings. Three general sessions will be held, as well as over 100 panel discussions and small group presentations for administrators and school board members from throughout the state.

Topics will include school funding, educational technology, legal issues and trends. Over 300 vendors and exhibitors will display the latest in school based products for our review. This is a great weekend for networking and learning to strengthen education in our local district.


Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Veterans Day 2009


November 11th marks the annual Veterans Day celebration. This federal holiday commemorates the signing of the Armistice that ended WW I on November, 11, 1918 at 11:00 am. This holiday honors the 24.9 million military veterans in the United States. Schools are closed in honor of this day as Americans gather to reflect on this Day of Remembrance. This day was first proclaimed by President Woodrow Wilson in 1919 and has been celebrated in various ways since that time. Most recently the Day of Remembrance has been celebrated on November 11th.

Please remember and honor those who have served and continue to serve our country today. The sacrifice of our veterans and military guarantees our freedom.





Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Strategic Planning Process Begins

This year the Center Cass School District will engage it's stakeholders in a comprehensive strategic planning process to develop priority goals to guide the District through the next three years. This process includes focus groups of community members, parents, students, staff members, teachers and alumni. The process will also use surveys to collect additional data.
This week begins the parent focus groups that will be held at each school building. Tonight sessions will be held at Ide School while Lakeview will be held on November 9th and Prairieview will meet on November 17th. All parents are invited to share in these sessions that will begin at 7:00 pm and generally conclude by 8:15 pm.


Parent survey links will be open beginning next week on Monday, November 9th and will close on December 4th. All parents are encourage to participate in these surveys and contribute their input into this process that will help to guide our school district into the future. We look forward to seeing you at one of these upcoming sessions.

This process will culminate with a community planning session to be held at Prairieview School on Saturday, February 6, 2010.