ABOVE: District 118 Board member Christopher Easton states his case for tabling scheduled administration and non-union salaries for later discussion. To his left is board member Dr. Tom Halloran.
Towards the end of Wednesday evening’s District 118 Board meeting there was some obvious disagreement between board member Christopher Easton and Superintendent John Hart. Easton asked for raises for administration, principals, and flat salary non-union part-time workers to be removed from the consent agenda. Later, he asked for them to be tabled for further discussion at the next meeting, pointing out Interim Finance Director Todd Pence’s report that at the end of the district’s fiscal year on June 30th, District 118 had dropped to having just 46 days of normal day operational cash in their account. Although Pence conceded that a drop in that statistic is normal for the end of the fiscal year, before new funding comes in; to Easton it was too close for comfort.
AUDIO: All these people are working very hard, that’s true. But we don’t have a contract for automatic raises. When we talk about raises for these kinds of positions, we have to be sure we have the fiscal standing to issue raises. And I just don’t believe we do.
All board members voted for the tabling except board president Darlene Halloran, although Easton conceded that he figured most of them disagreed with his move. One person who showed disagreement in his closing comments was Superintendent John Hart. He told CIMG afterwards that the financial picture for the district is coming into focus thanks to Pence’s hard work; and that without these workers whose raises were just delayed, the whole situation would have been a lot worse.
AUDIO: We’ve asked people to make cuts. They’re doing it with less people, and we have a very deserving group of administrators, non-union employees, that are just like everybody else. Costs of things aren’t getting any cheaper. And, you know, the extra money does make a big deal. It’s a big deal to them; it’s a big deal to me.
(1st Picture) Danville District 118 Board at Wednesday evening’s meeting. (2nd Picture) Interim Finance Director Todd Pence addresses the board.
Meanwhile, Pence mentioned while updating the board on the financial situation that in order to fully succeed on their goals for the old Carle building they lease at 2300 North Vermilion, they may need to try their luck with a one percent sales tax referendum. Hart says the long range plan for that building continues to be to establish a daycare for district employees, some alternative classrooms, and some pre-K classrooms. Hart says, the district is in talks with Carle right now on a possible updated financial arrangement.
AUDIO: They’ve actually been really great to work with. I’m actually waiting to hear back from them, and just to really decide on what the district’s going to pursue going forward.
For the 2025-26 school year, the district’s entire Birth to Three program will be at the Carle building, and all pre-K and kindergarten classes will now be at Mark Denman School. Speaking of Mark Denman School, it was mentioned during the meeting that repairing recent roof damage from major storm activity will probably cost the district around $200,000; with the district paying for all of it due to a high insurance deductible. The work is expected to be done this fall.
