The Wilmette School Board met Monday evening at the Mikaelian
Education Center to present the fiscal year 2012 budget, discuss service-based learning and announce the winner of a district-wide green contest.
The FY2012 operations budget—which covers educational, maintenance, and transportation expenditures as well as pensions—estimates $55.4 million in spending, nearly $6 million less than the operational fund revenue.
Earlier:
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Superintendent Ray Lechner said the FY2012 budget was close to the
, however slight adjustments had
been made to reflect actual salaries, grants, general state aid and
revenue garnered from the property tax increase as a result of an
.
Lechner said D39 had received a letter from the Cook County
Clerk's Tax Extension Department confirming the new tax rate, which
will be reflected in property tax bills for the fall.
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In a press release on Thursday, District 39 announced that an appeal
in the lawsuit regarding the April 5 referendum had been consolidated with a similar appeal in the . Both lawsuits claim the property tax referendums in both districts had misled voters. The Wilmette case has been filed by resident Herbert Sorock and .
On June 23, Judge Rita Novak .
"Consolidating our two cases will serve to move the appeals forward in an efficient and expedited manner," Board President Karen Donnan said in the press release. "As a result, we did not object to the plaintiffs' motion."
Donnan expects the lower court's June 23 ruling to stand.
Meanwhile Sorock attended Monday's meeting, and said it was upsetting to see the district take . Central Elementary, Highcrest Middle School, and Wilmette Junior High School will each have 25 to 30 new iPads.
"When you say, 'Well, I'm going to spend that money one way or another and buy the next shiny thing, the iPad,' it goes against the idea of cost containment," Sorock said.
Lechner said that purchasing the iPads was part of the district's cost
containment plan, since the devices are less costly than laptops.
"Laptops we have for children are very expensive," Lechner said. "We
have to find more efficient ways to expend our existing resources."
During the board meeting, Lechner also announced the winner of the
Biggest Loser Contest, a contest to reduce consumption in electricity,
paper, toner, and postage. Central took 1st place by focusing
on paperless communication. Altogether, these schools' green practices led to an annual savings of $40,000.
Dave Palzet, principal of Highcrest Middle School and Wilmette Junior
High School, also presented recommendations on making service-based learning a supplement to Wilmette schools' academic curriculum. The goals for this new approach will help students learn the value of diversity, mutual respect, and collaboration, Palzet said.
This emphasis on social responsibility has been added to the district's wider plan CONNECTED, which focuses on themes such as
global perspective and communication.
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