Taxpayers a no-show despite $970,000 deficit in $13,763,450 District 300 budget

Du Quoin Education Association president Jean Ann Mathis told the board of education Thursday her membership has serious concerns about moving the pre-kindergarten program and some of the special education programs out of satellite programs and back into the elementary, middle school and high school buildings.

They want to know "What are your plans for the future of the district?" She said they have concerns about job security and pay freezes. "They would like to meet with you and get the board members' opinions," she said.

All of these things are part of possible "Tier I" initiatives in a deficit reduction plan for the district.

Yet, at Thursday night's meeting where a $13,763,450 budget containing a $970,000 deficit for the coming year was on the table, taxpayers and DEA members were all no-shows and the 2013-2014 budget was approved without public comment.

Supt. Dr. Gary Kelly said the new budget needed to be approved Thursday and that it needed to be accompanied by the deficit reduction plan because of the shortfall. He went on to say that how a final plan is enacted and executed will be a work in progress throughout the coming year.

Mathis said she distributed the plan to 164 DEA members and that their main concern would be whether class size will grow even larger. Some classes have over 30 students now. "It means more pressure and more work," said Mathis. "We have space to accommodate this," said Kelly. "The plan is fluid."

"I've heard it out in the community and this is something I want to dispell. This (the budget deficit) is not something that happened overnight," Kelly said. "We are having to watch what we do," he said of district reserves that reached a high of $4.5 million in Fiscal 2011 and will approach $2 million by the end of next year. "I think we are an open book," he said. "We have faith in you, Gary," board member Dennis Cole commented.

In other discussions Kyle Lunsford of Lunsford Architects said contractors are finishing up on "punch list" items at the new high school in advance of next Tuesday's 5 p.m. dedication. Board member Cole asked about cost overruns. A sewer line, the baseball complex and parking areas caused the largest of the overruns. "When we finish there will be nothing out-standing (owed)," Kelly said.

The board accepted the resigation of DHS cook Sharley Ramsey and hired Jacob Emling as 5th-6th grade boys basketball coach.