Elimination of all after-school activities, including athletics and clubs, closing an elementary and/or junior high school and a 10% reduction in staff were the three budget reduction options Oswego School District 308 administrators presented to the board of education Monday evening, Nov. 16.

The board took no action on the options, but instead instructed Superintendent John Sparlin and administrators to look at what options will be the least impactful and least traumatizing to students and to present their findings during an upcoming meeting.

District officials are seeking to make about $5.8 million in budget cut to offset a deficit resulting from no new money being allocated to the district under the state’s Evidence Based Funding formula and increased expenses because of the continuing COVID-19 pandemic.

If the district’s share of state funding under the EBF returns to normal in fiscal 2022, Chief Financial Officer Christy Tyler told the board that the district would face a $1.5 million deficit for fiscal 2022, but would begin to see surplus budgets in the following years if EBF resumes. The more likely option, she said, if EBF remains flatly funded in fiscal 2022, the district would see deficit budgets through fiscal 2024.

Taking into account the revenue from fees and ticket prices, eliminating all high school extracurricular activities would save the district just more than $2 million, Tyler said.

Eliminating junior high school activities and clubs would save the district $57,096 – junior high athletics already has been cut by the district. Taking away elementary activities and clubs would save the district $51,927. While the majority of the costs to the district comes from stipends for teachers, additional costs at the high school level come from transportation, maintenance of grounds, the athletic budget and the cost of theater workers, Tyler said.

Tyler’s list of pros for eliminating extracurriculars included avoiding cuts to instruction and minimizing cuts to staff and class sizes, while cons include a disadvantage to high school students looking to apply to college and a limit in opportunities for social emotional growth.

Tyler’s said closing an elementary school would save the district $433,605 in staff costs and $99,900 in building costs, while closing a junior high school would save $667,448.77 in staff costs and $162,600 in building costs. Taking into account the cost of transporting students from the closed school to their new buildings set the final savings at $379,781.19 for closing an elementary school and $642,269.29 for closing a junior high school.

Tyler said the pros for closing a school include the ability to absorb the student population at another school and a reduction or elimination in costs for improvements and maintenance. Points against closing a school include increased bus time for students placed in a new school, raising the ratio of students to administrators, a need to redraw boundaries and a large impact to students and families with a minimal impact to the deficit.

The third option, reducing staff by 10%, would save the district $15,429,480, Tyler said. The total savings was reached by salaries, contributions to programs such as the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund and health benefits.

Pros for the third option include keeping all schools open and maintaining current extracurricular opportunities, while cons include an increase in responsibilities to staff left behind and an increase in class sizes.

A reduction in staff would require the district to notify certified staff members 45 calendar days before the end of the school term, April 9, 2021. Noncertified staff in a collective bargaining agreement would require 30 days notification.