Belleville+West+High+School+Budget


 * By: Patty Libby and Robin Huang

The Belleville West High School Budget **

Throughout the years, District 201 has gone through numerous ups and downs in their budget. From costly remodels to prosperous times, both the faculty and students have grown accustomed to the vacillating budget. Still the students of Belleville West have always been concerned with how the schools and their own dollars are spent. Currently there are still struggles in the school system to cope with the new lowered budget prompting student concern over the recent layoffs of several teachers. This is the story, past and present, about the Belleville West budget.
 * Summary **

I. Past Budgetary Concerns A. School Improvements 1. 1964 2. 1965 B. Budget cut 1. 1987 2. 1998 II. Student Budgetary Concerns A. Rising ID Costs B. Televisions/ parking lot Costs C. Prom Problems III. Current Budgetary Concerns A. Money siphoned out of education funds B. Teachers are let go C. Support for sacked teachers Past Budgetary Concerns (History) ** In 1964 a new campus at Belleville West was erected. This project took a total of three years to complete, but once done, it, according to Mr. H.J. Haberaecker, made the West campus first class. Also, along with the new campus, the school invested in major improvements to other parts of the school. The library was repainted, both inside and outside, the new colors was light pastel and white. The junior college library was also redone. The library was separated into two separate rooms, one to be used for visual aid and the other to be used as a regular classroom. Another improvement was the lockers and the auditorium. All lockers were repaired and pained tan and perfectly complemented with new light-colored glossy tiles. The auditorium was, likewise, repainted and refurnished with replaced seating panels; there were also new lighting and flooring. In addition to these improvements was the cafeteria, which was upgraded with more efficient ovens and utensils. In the fall of 1965, there would also be a new roof over the school buildings. These upgrades and improvements were all made for the safety and condition of the school and students as well as preventative maintenance. Though these are wonderful enhancements of Belleville West, the cost of these upgrades are not cheap. However, according to Mr. Haberaecker, ‘This preventative program should not only be cheaper in the long run but also improve the appearance of the school greatly.”


 * [[image:oldwest1.jpg caption=""Old West" on West Main St."]] ||

Despite the optimism in 1965, a huge budget cut in 1987 caused the school to rethink their spending. The government cut $363 million from the budgets of Illinois’ schools, which would roughly amount to $325,000 from District 201. Of this cut, $300,000 was in general aid while the rest was in categorical aid. This included special education reimbursement, vocational education, and other gifted programs. Due to this great loss in the school budget, countless classes were packed larger with students, a good many of applying teachers were rejected, and club-sponsoring money was cut back dramatically. Likewise, 1998 also caused a big drawback in school funding. With the passing of the House Bill 425, District 201 lost over $7000. However, the school received help from the state in Hold Harmless. This guaranteed that the money earned in the next three years would equal the income of the 1997-1998 school year. This kept the school from losing as much money and it would allow the school to prepare for the decline in their state aid. Another help the school received was in the district 6.3% tax increase. This is equivalent to 9.5 cents for every $100 of a property’s equalized assessed value. For every 9.5 cents earned, the school used 4 cents to go towards paying for the bond debt the district took on the year before. The rest of the money received would go towards maintenance, transportation, special education, and safety measures. This would greatly help the school in paying off its debt and storing money for future budget cuts.

The students of Belleville West have always been concerned with the effects a tight budget has on their education and usually their pocketbooks. In 1998 the school purchased a new ID card machine to the tune of $17,000. This substantial sum was deemed necessary at the time and to compensate for the cost, the price of an ID card was raised to five dollars. Three of the dollars a student would spend on the ID goes towards the materials and time used to construct it. The remaining two dollars, however, is used to pay off the cost of the machine. While the students winced at the price, the teachers had a very different perspective. Chemistry teacher James Ivory said in the February edition of the school newspaper that the fee was a tool to teach the students to be accountable for their belongings. In 2002 a new policy was instituted that strengthened both the ID policy and the students outcries. Under the new guidelines a student must pay five dollars every time that he purchase an ID. If he had forgotten his money he was always able to by the ID on credit. Under the former policy students had been racking up bills of upwards $100. The administration was becoming angry that the parents of the students were simply paying the bill and not instituting the importance of responsibility to their children. The new policy forces the student to pay off a charged ID before buying a new one, or else receive a Saturday detention. This places the brunt of the cost on the student and gives a clearly defined punishment for irresponsibility.
 * Student Budgetary Concerns **



Other budgetary concerns of students was in 2007; students were greeted with six new additions to their normal lunch routines. Over the summer the school had installed shiny new televisions in the cafeteria. According to the Hy News, the Belleville west student newspaper, the televisions each cost around $1000 dollars. Though there were several supporters the majority of the students interviewed said that the televisions were a waste of money and space. The televisions are located in the cafeteria that is always very noisy. Many students complained that they could not hear the televisions. In a letter to the editor, Junior Ronald Juenger sounded off. He mirrored many of the student’s concerns. He suggested that the money for the televisions were being ill spent and would be more useful if placed towards new textbooks. Junger also turned his satiric wrath onto the newly redone parking lot. As the new shiny black televisions were being mounted inside, the shiny black parking lot was getting a makeover as well. $40,000 was spent to put in speed bumps, resurface the parking lot, and repaint the cross walks and parking space numbers. Once again the student reaction was negative.


 * || [[image:new_parking_lot_with_speed_bumps_ahf.jpg caption="New parking lot recieved the gift of speed bumps"]] ||  ||

Conversely there is one event that the students do not mind spending their cash on, and that is prom. Students across the country shell out their hard earned and hard raised money for a night of magic. Belleville West is no different. In 2002 though, the students were faced with their own real life budget cut. The junior class was having trouble raising the necessary $12,000 for its own prom. As of the October issue of the Hy News, the class had only raised a measly $5,000, not even half of their projected goal. Lisa Quandt, the faculty advisor for prom committee, cited that the lack of participation in the yearly fundraisers were to blame. Luckily the junior class organized multiple fundraisers to make up the difference such as selling armbands at the “Night of Giving”—a fundraiser at St. Clair Square—and prom went off seamlessly.

The Illinois State Legislature is in an economic frenzy right now. In the past year, they have allotted money from the state budget against precedent out of the funds that are typically used for education and healthcare. This money was used to fund several short term economic relief measures meant to stimulate the economy. Sadly, this plan failed and thus the money has not been returned to the education budget. This is seriously affecting the public schools of Illinois. Now, public schools have to take extreme measures and quite frankly fend for themselves. To make up for the money that has always been provided by the state, schools across the state are cutting back on programs, teachers aids, and teachers. Other states have adopted a program that protects the funds for education into a separate fund that cannot be moved for other spending. Presently, students and parents at Belleville West are upset with the administration. To keep the schools running, the district chose to dismiss 7 teachers from West and 19 teachers from East. If the aid does come through, the plan is to rehire the teachers. For the time being, however, the teachers have been issued “pink slips.” The teachers that were chosen for dismissal include all the teachers that have taught for less than four years at Belleville West. The school has also chosen not to hire any teacher’s aids that are not needed by law, such as in the special education and behavioral disorders programs. Junior Kirstin Palovik, wrote an article in the high news to that effect. She says that with the cuts there will be larger class sizes and cuts in the extra spending that run many of the school programs. The support for the teachers has been overwhelming. On March 29th the teachers wore pink to support their “pink-slipped” contemporaries. There have also been more personalized supports such as the one directed at Jennie Moeller, choir director and one of the teachers that will be let go. At the annual spring concerts several of her students surprised her with a card and their gratitude. The audience responded with a standing ovation for the surprised Moeller who was almost moved to tears.
 * Current Budgetary Concerns **
 * || [[image:state_aid_2.jpg width="451" height="268" caption="Front of Hy News Issue: Article written by a student in response to the new budgetary concerns"]] ||  ||