The Bloomington District 87 Board of Education approved its fiscal year 2027 budget Wednesday night following a public hearing.
The spending plan projects an deficit of over $11 million, with revenues of roughly $109 million and expenditures of about $120 million.
Chief Financial and Facilities Officer Michael Cornale broke down where the deficit comes from.
"The majority of it is [education] fund," said Cornale, adding the other portions come from operations and maintenance and working cash funds.
Cornale said the district plans to transfer about $8.5 million from working cash into capital projects "to pay for those ongoing expenses that we have associated with those big construction projects that we have."
Some of those big construction projects, he said, involve the final invoicing from the Sarah Raymond project and the roughly $3.5 million south gym renovation project, which he said has "all really happened within this fiscal year."
As for the education fund shortfall, Cornale said it's manageable.
"As simple as it can be, we're going to spend a little bit more than we take in," Cornale said. "Is that the end of the world? No. We have some fund balance. We have to manage that fund balance over time."
Asked whether the district has a plan to eliminate the deficit by the end of next fiscal year, Cornale said, "I anticipate carrying the deficits."
He said wage increases were a part of what pushed expenditures beyond capital costs.
"As a result of collective bargaining, our union contracts that we have in place, and, of course, those folks that don't necessarily have a collective bargaining agreement that we give raises to, annual salary increases," he said.
The board voted unanimously to approve the budget.
911 school mapping
Also Wednesday, McLean County ETSB 911 System Manager Brandon Lacy and Brad Mercer of Western Illinois University's GIS center presented a countywide school-mapping initiative tied to Next Generation 911 technology.
Using a 3D scanning device, the program has mapped the interior of every public and private school in McLean County. LeRoy became the first district in the county to complete the mapping in November.
The system feeds detailed maps into dispatch systems so first responders can pinpoint exact locations inside of the school — or to create fire escape plans, utility shutoff maps and vendor inspections.
The service is being provided to schools at no cost, with ETSB covering maintenance for five years. Lacy said every school district in McLean County has adopted the mapping except Chenoa Elementary that is closing.
Other business
- Kristen Ahrens, a physical education teacher at Washington Elementary, received the Dr. Barry Riley Wellness Champion Award for organizing wellness programs including staff yoga sessions, step challenges and the "We Fit In" community PE program.
- The Bloomington High School Marching Raiders have been selected to perform in the Bob Rogers Travel/Walt Disney World Thanksgiving Day Parade of Bands at the Magic Kingdom on Nov. 26. The band has performed in the parade four previous times and will join seven other bands, including Illinois' Prospect and Lincoln-Way high schools, in a mass-band performance led by clinicians from college marching programs at the University of Illinois, Auburn University, Northwestern University and the University of Florida.
- The BHS South Gym project has been delayed by unexpected groundwater; the upstairs wrestling room and trainer space are now targeted for a Nov. 1 turnover, with locker rooms expected by Dec. 15. Tunnel-top waterproofing was completed before the school year began as planned, with concession-area bathrooms targeted for mid-October and exterior door work ongoing.
