June 30th marks the end of
the fiscal year at Blue Ridge. Work in
the Unit Office is focused on completing year end reports and planning for the
new school year. Both of these tasks have been made increasingly
difficult by the structural deficit faced by the State. The 2008-2009
fiscal year has been dramatically effected by significant shortfalls in State
revenues to Blue Ridge. Below is a list
of the revenue shortfalls and the programs that were affected:
EDUCATION
FUND:
Special
Education Programs:$174,803
Pre-K
Program:$
98,951
Arts
Education:$
5,600
Free
Breakfast Program:$
1,399
TRANSPORTATION
FUND:
Transportation
of Students$146,088
The revenues listed above
are received during the year in which the program is being provided. This
means that the District has few cost control options when funding shortfalls
occur during the program or after the fact (as occured this year). While
good planning by our past and current boards means that Blue
Ridge is in a position to deal with revenue shortfalls of this
nature without a reduction of program services during 2008-2009 school year,
this cannot continue.
In addition, the programs
listed above are funded from the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE)
budget which is funded from the State's general revenue fund (which is
comprised of taxes paid by Illinois
citizens). When local property taxes are required to replace the revenues
from grant funded programs, we are, in effect, paying for these programs twice.
As of this writing a State
budget does not exist. I have already received notification from ISBE
that until a State budget is approved with funding for grant programs, we have
no funding for our Pre-K program and our Reading Improvement program for the
2009-2010 school year. Other grant funded programs are also at risk.
These programs are vital to the success of our students. I urge you
to contact you local legislator and demand that they find a viable solution to
the structural deficit. Our children deserve better.
Blue Ridge has upgraded its e-mail system, and with this change comes a new set of e-mail addresses! All e-mail addresses now end in "blueridge18.org" instead of "br18.k12.il.us." Easier to type, easier to tell to others, easier to say.
Example:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
becoms
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
E-mails addressed to the original e-mail address will still be routed to the correct user - if you send an e-mail to
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
, it will still get where it needs to go.
