Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – The Springfield Public School District is expected to have a deficit of around $17.9 million in its operating budget for the just-underway 2026 Fiscal Year.
While the district does plan to draw on fund balances and deficit spend, Superintendent Jennifer Gill said Tuesday night it just can’t be left at that.
While Gill says funding from most outside sources will likely be level compared to last year, and there are unknowns like with union contracts, there are opportunities for cuts.
And board member Debra Iams says that may mean making some unpopular decisions, and backing out of promises that were made.
“Perhaps cutting, closing schools, or cutting the SCOPE (before- and after-school) program. Those are places where you would save large amounts of money,” said Iams. “We have two very small schools that have small enrollment, and over 75 percent of the students are bused.”
The District 186 Board over the summer approved saving SCOPE, but Iams claims that was before anyone on the board knew how potentially dire the district’s financial situation might be. Iams also claimed board member Micah Miller should abstain from a budget vote because of where he received election campaign contributions. The district is considering hiring a permanent building contractor, and/or a permanent roofer, hence Iams’ concern. Miller says all local unions have contributed to his campaign, and Iams would never open up her campaign finance books.
It should also be noted that some of a potential deficit running SCOPE has been offset by increased fees.
Other suggestions included the district selling land it owns on the west side of Springfield. Some other concerns included the number of Tax Increment Financing Districts in District 186, and a growing concern of state offices moving into former retail structures, taking those properties off the tax rolls. Property values in the district are expected to increase somewhat.
But, before any final budget decisions are made, Buffy Lael-Wolf, board vice president, said the district should include all its employees in the process.
“There are times they come across things, and we know that they’ll say, ‘Why are we doing this? It costs so much money and it doesn’t even do anything,'” said Lael-Wolf. “There’s a lot of those conversations that can happen, that I think we need to take full advantage of. Let them submit something to us so that we can look it over. “
A public budget hearing will be at the September 15 board meeting, with a final vote on the current year spending plan next month.
CORRECTION: This story was corrected to reflect the actual total of the projected budget deficit, and to remove a quote from Gill that was not in reference to the deficit. Capitol City Now deeply regrets the errors.
