More than 600 parents, teachers, and students showed up Wednesday at Hickory Grove Elementary School in Dunlap, Ill., to protest cuts of $2.1 million in the proposed 2014-15 budget for Dunlap Community Unit School District 323, the Peoria Journal-Star reports.
Said one middle school band director: “I am alarmed, saddened, and ashamed of the sharp cuts aimed at the fine arts program. These would have a disastrous effect and should be tabled immediately. Please do not let this happen to Dunlap.”
The crowd then rose to give her a standing ovation, the Journal-Star reported.
Art, band, orchestra, physical education, libraries, and several other programs in the district, which includes Banner Elementary School, Dunlap Grade School, Hickory Grove Elementary School, Ridgeview Elementary School, Wilder-Waite Elementary School, Dunlap Middle School, Dunlap Valley Middle School, and Dunlap High School, are on the chopping block.
John Allison, co-president of the district’s teachers’ union, was quoted as saying that curbing expenses in existing programs would be “more prudent” than cutting programs. The district would lay off 20 teachers, including music teachers, increase student fees, reduce some programs, eliminate bus routes, and freeze non-teacher salaries if the cuts are approved.
Because Illinois schools depend a great deal on property tax revenue, the drop in housing prices during the last recession has led to a situation in the state in which many schools do not receive appropriate funding based on the number of students. Voters in Peoria County, including Dunlap CUSD 323, will vote on a proposed sales tax increase of 1 percent this spring, money that would be earmarked for school construction and other improvements.
But for now, schools rely largely on property taxes. On top of the falling home prices, District 323 has also experienced an increase in the number of students. These elements combine to make a perfect storm, and the district has been operating with a deficit, even this year, Superintendent Jay Marino explained.
Several speakers at the meeting, however, said recent capital expenditures—$5-million improvements to athletic fields, for example—have contributed just as much to the current deficit as the recession and uptick in enrollment have.
Dunlap High School features the first artificial turf football field in the area. Mr Marino justified the artificial turf, though, by saying that it saves money in the long run, compared to the maintenance costs for real grass, and that students use it more now than they would if it were real grass.
The district has a $22 million cash reserve fund, but board members seem poised to approve the cuts, according to the Journal-Star.
