D308 Board Approves $4.9M In Budget Cuts To Offset Deficit

OSWEGO, IL — The Oswego School District 308 will see a budget cut of $4.9 million after the Board of Education voted 6-0 to approve it during the Monday meeting.

Superintendent John Sparlin had said earlier that the district has already reduced its budget by $14.4 million since 2016 to offset a budget deficit. He said the current financial state is because of the lack of new funds allocated under the state's Evidence Based Funding formula and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

The cuts include the elimination of 27 elementary school teachers because of declining enrollment. The decline in enrollment, while due in part to the continuing COVID-19 pandemic, had already been anticipated by the district.

During a meeting last June, a specialist brought in had projected a decrease of 400 students throughout the district over the next five years. At the elementary level, he projected an increase of 100 students over five years, a decrease of 400 students at the junior high level, and a decrease of about 50 students at the district's two high schools. The district will save $1.89 million by eliminating the teaching positions.

Other items on the list of cuts include restructuring benefits for district employees, an end to printing school planners for students in junior high and high school, and a 10 percent reduction in operating budgets for Oswego High School and Oswego East High School.

According to an initial estimate presented to the board last month, the budget cuts were supposed to save the district $5.7 million. However, two items were removed — a permanent shift to four days of in-person learning and one remote day for junior high and high school students, and a switch for the district’s GOAL program to hybrid learning.

These two combined would have given the district an extra $771,000.

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