Spring Break Begins

Spring Break begins with the close of school today. Classes will resume on Monday, April 6, 2009. I hope that you have a restful vacation period and are ready to the faster paced rush to the end of the school year. When we return spring sports such as soccer, softball and volleyball begin their seasons. The spring musical and spring concerts will soon follow. Enjoy this brief vacation period. See you April 6th!

State Budget Update

I haven't given a report on life in Springfield for some time, so I thought I would share what I know in terms of the Governor's budget speech yesterday.

All reports coming from the Capital indicate that the collegiality and atmosphere is much improved with the absence of Rod Blagojevich. There is access to the Governor and other officials which has not existed for several years.

In terms of the budget, we know that Governor Quinn has proposed raising the state income tax as well as corporate taxes, license fees and cigarette taxes. There will be a great deal of discussion among legislators regarding any tax increases, but I am certain we will have some sort of tax increase. The State of Illinois will receive $2 billion in stimulus money of which 80% was to go to public education unless it has been adequately funded. In the definition of adequately funded schools, Illinois K-12 schools are listed as being adequately funded so the Governor is able to use the $1.8 billion in the general fund to help offset the state deficit. This is probably not a bad idea! Pension issues are still at the forefront of attention and the Governor has proposed a two-tiered system for new employees that would help improve the debt cycle caused by state pensions. It is also possible that there will be a capital program to create jobs and allow Illinois to access federal funds for road construction. Former Legislator Gary Hannig has been appointed to head IDOT and will apparently manage millions of dollars of work that is shovel ready.

In terms of school funding, the Governor is following the budget request of the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) which contained modest increases, found mainly in the Foundation Level, by $130 per student and fully funding mandated categoricals such as special education costs and student transportation costs. In terms of payments from the State of Illinois we are running 63 days behind with the State now processing bills from November of 2008. We are hoping to receive all of these funds although some payments may reach into FY 10. The impact of any federal stimulus money is still unknown and will be saddled with excessive rules and regulations that will make it difficult to use effectively. The famous SB 750 has appeared again in a new format, this time relying on property tax relief instead of tax swap. Needless to say, everyone appears to be unhappy with this budget proposal including legislators and representatives of the many special interests groups. Let the fun begin...

Lakeview Spartans – SEDAA Conference Basketball Champs

Congratulations to the Boys Varsity Basketball Team on their victory over Cass Junior High last Friday night at Old Quarry Middle School in Lemont to win the SEDAA Conference Championship for 2009. This ends a story book season for the Spartans and their coach, Tom Dodd. Throughout the season the Spartans dominated the other ten schools in the Southeast DuPage Elementary School Association conference to win this important championship! Members of the team are: Vincent Leong, Andrew Jovien, Joe Navarro, John Bonk, Marty Lyman, James Ivkovic, Tony Liu, Jeff Jelen, Zak Paskvan, Steven Kryk, Chris Widdel, Kevin Raher, Povilas Golokoscius, Alex Page and Robert Mara.

All winter sports teams will be honored at the Spring Sports Banquet , Thursday evening, March 19th.

Outstanding Band Performances

This past weekend two of our bands performed in the Southeast DuPage Elementary School Association held at Cass Junior High School in Darien. This festival provides an educational performance opportunity for school bands from the local area. This year both the Lakeview Symphonic Band and Wind Ensemble took part it this annual event that began in 1983 at Westview Hills Middle School in Clarendon Hills. Each band performed three selections and were critiqued by three adjudicators who provided a brief clinic as well as written and recorded comments for the young musicians. This format provides a quality performance opportunity as well as a great learning experience as the band clinic takes place after the performance and in front of the entire audience. This gives parents and visitors the opportunity to see how a band rehearses to perfect their music. We were appreciative of the large contingent of District 66 parents who came out to support our students.

Both the Symphonic Band under the direction of Brian Ohlsen and the Wind Ensemble under the direction of Tom Tedeschi received great reviews as well as ideas to improve these performances before our annual band tour in early May. Good job!

Thoughts on March 1st

Not much has happened in Springfield during the past two weeks. Rumors abound regarding Governor Quinn and his plans to save us from financial ruin. Personally, I am not sure how much will get done with all of the hype and rhetoric still going on about Senator Burris and whether or not he should be our Senator. Personally I don't have time to ponder that issue. I am more interested in the financial issues and their impact on the operation of our school district. Since we have not been receiving our normal payments for various types of state aid for the past couple of months there can be no doubt that the State is obviously out of money to pay for all of the programs it must support. My concern is what if any portion of their obligations will the State pay and when. Illinois has a long history of using a technique that is called proration in times where funds are tight. Proration allows the state to tally up the funds available (regardless of what they owe) and issue entities a proportionate share of the original appropriation based on what is available and call the obligation paid in full. This obviously leaves many public entities struggling to survive. If this pattern continues and no additional revenues are identified and put into place we will all be in serious financial trouble.

There is still a great deal of talk about tax increases both in the motor fuel tax and the State income tax. The Governor has not taken a public position on either of these issues to this date. The State needs to generate money to begin a capital development program to increase jobs and increase the flow of federal funds into our state. I hope some agreement is reached soon. The flow of Recovery Act Federal Aid into the state is still not fully explained and depending on the restrictions and how much money sticks to the hands of our politicians may or may not be be helpful for all of us. Nevertheless, some decisions are obviously being made and we will all hear about them when the Governor delivers his budget address to the General Assembly on March 18th.

In terms of good news we have been informed that Prairieview and Lakeview have received the Academic Excellence Award – 2008 Illinois Honor Roll based on student performance on ISAT and other measures. I salute our principals, teachers, staff, students and parents for this award by the Illinois State Board of Education.

The Elizabeth Ide PTO also held their annual Snowflake Ball last Saturday night at Ide and it was a huge success and most enjoyable for the students and parents who attended. Thanks to the many volunteers who make this event possible.

ISAT testing begins this week in grades 3 through 8. Students have been well prepared by their teachers for these tests and I expect that our students will continue do well on these tests as they have in past years.

Have a good week.