Pinckneyville HS Board Inks Budget
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[ The Pinckneyville Community High School Board of Education placed on file for public inspection a tentative budget for the 2009-2010 school year. The budget will remain on file until the September board meeting.
The tentative budget projects revenue of $3,894,656 and expenditures of $4,102,580, resulting in a deficit of $207,904. However, Superintendent Jon Green is hoping to finish the coming school year in the black.
"If we're fiscally conservative, we can do that." Green said.
The 2008-2009 school year ended with a surplus of $241,245. The previous two years had deficit budgets, but also finished in the black.
The extra time the budget will remain on file may allow Green to get a better idea of what state revenue will be forthcoming and when payments will be made.
The transportation fund shows a deficit of $87,557 in the coming year. That deficit includes $40,000 in state aid payments that were not made last year.
In other business, the board:
- heard from Green that the state legislature approved a capital bill. The Illinois State Board of Education has approved two of the three health/life/safety projects for PCHS. The improvements to Thomas Gym and the weight room have been approved. After the district receives approval for the third and largest health/life/safety project- building a new school, the next step will be to look at financing. The state has not sold bonds to generate funding for the capital bill. There are 23 or 24 schools on the 2002 list and all of them will receive promised funding first. Green said that there should be about $1.5 billion left after to divide among the schools on the 2003 list. PCHS was on the 2003 capital bill list, which will be re-ranked. Approval of the three health/life/safety projects may help the district get a better ranking. At the time PCHS applied for a grant to build a new school, the state was paying 75 percent of the cost and the district was expected to pay 25 percent. The state could change the ratio of state to local funding. "Right now we're just trying to get our ducks in a row," Green said. Both he and District Architect Dave Mevert have been in contact with the ISBE committee that approves health/life/safety work.
- heard from Green that PCHS did not make adequate yearly progress (AYP) on the Prairie State Achievement Exam, which is given to high school juniors. The state's goal was for 70 percent of the students to meet or exceed standards in both reading and math. PCHS had 46.7 percent meet or exceed reading standards and 49.2 meet or exceed math standards. The goal for the coming year is to raise the percentages by at least 10 percent, which would allow the district to meet AYP through the safe harbor program. Any school that raises its test scores by 10 percent over the previous year automatically meets AYP. PCHS made AYP last year through the safe harbor program. Green said that while he hopes the test scores improve, the PSAE may not be the best gauge of student progress. PCHS also uses two other standardized tests to evaluate student performance. The district also has excellent attendance and graduation rates. "Out of the last graduating class of 100 students, 98 of them were planning to go to college or the military," Green said.
- hired Alan Engelhardt, Todd Thomas and Nolan Kellerman as Assistant Football Coaches. There had been two coaching positions, which will now be shared by three coaches.
- hired Julie Lamb as Freshman Volleyball Coach.
- hired Steve McKinstry, Drew Boehler and Cory Toenjes as volunteer Assistant Football Coaches and Vicki Weatherford as volunteer Assistant Golf Coach.