While Indian Prairie School District 204 has attempted to make changes and cut costs, it hasn’t been enough and now the district has announced it may need to cut staff to try and balance its budget in the next year.
Superintendent Kathy Birkett announced the district must cut an additional $8.6 million to balance the budget next year. That amount is in addition to the $30.4 million cut in recent years.
The announcement was made during the District 204 Board of Education meeting Monday.
“What is frustrating for us is that the continued budget challenges we face are from state funding issues beyond our control,” Birkett said in the announcement. “District 204 operates with the lowest operating expense per pupil and with significantly fewer administrators than any district in DuPage County. As a district that already operates ‘lean,’ we reached out to our staff and our community for suggestions on ways to save money.”
The district had asked community members to make suggestions on how it might make cuts to meet its budget and Birkett said in an announcement to the school community that more than 550 suggestions were received.
Along with reducing some low-level athletic programs and extra-curricular activities, the district is considering reducing its clerical and support staff by 6.3 percent, reducing administrators by 4.6 percent, and reducing its teaching staff by 2.6, Birkett said.
The district will also be reworking its Frontier Campus program for students because the district was notified that the College of DuPage will no longer be able to participate due to its own financial issues, Birkett said.
For more information on the District 204 budget visit its website.