Jay Wojcik is director of communications for Lombard SD 44 and a member of the Illinois chapter of the National School Public Relations Association.
Lombard SD 44 is proud of its reputation for being fiscally responsible in good and bad financial times. Just as many stakeholders are making cuts in their personal budgets and finding new, creative ways to save money, so is our school district.
Here are three examples of how we are good stewards of community tax dollars:
Residency review
For more than 17 years, District 44 has received the Bright Red Apple Award. Although more than 860 school districts in Illinois are eligible for this award each year, less than 75 districts qualify each year.
The award is presented by SchoolSearch, a Kansas City-based firm that provides comparative school district information for corporations, home builders, school districts, libraries, real estate professionals, legislators and relocating families. The award is based on data compiled in the Illinois State Report Card.
To earn the award, District 44 had to meet or exceed the elementary state averages in academic performance, pupil/teacher ratio, expenses per pupil, education level of teachers and average teacher salary.
Achieving Bright Red Apple status and offering wonderful programs and services makes the district a place where our community parents want to send their children. However, it’s also a place where parents who do not reside within our boundaries also want to send their children.
Educating non-resident students causes a financial burden. It costs the district $11,422 to educate a child and nonresidents contribute no education tax dollars to offset that expense.
To remedy this, the district has hired National Investigations Inc. to confirm the residency of all incoming kindergartners — about 300 children. To date, the firm has found 12 kindergarten students who do not live in our attendance area.
In addition, about two-thirds of these students also have older siblings enrolled in District 44. According to James Blanche, district superintendent, “Ensuring that all the students in our schools live in our district is a cost-saving measure. In some grades it means not having to open another section of a grade level and thereby avoids the costs associated with an additional classroom, materials, computers and a teacher.”
The district plans to make residency confirmation an on-going procedure. “Tax dollar resources in the state are getting tighter and we want to make sure we are stretching our taxpayers’ dollars as far as we can,” Blanche added.
Medicaid reimbursement
Through the efforts of special education and related services staff, District 44 was able to recoup approximately $260,000 dollars in reimbursements for 2010-11.
“All of Lombard District 44’s special education students will be able to benefit from the revenue generated from Medicaid dollars,” said Ellen Teelucksingh, assistant superintendent for special services. “These monies must be spent on educational resources that will ultimately improve the instruction, programming and support provided to Special Education students in the District.”
Teelucksingh said obtaining these funds was possible because, in accordance with the Illinois Healthcare and Family Services (HFS) Medicaid reimbursement program, some activities performed by medical professionals and staff in a school-based setting are eligible for partial reimbursement with federal matching funds from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The basis for this relationship between Medicaid and education was established by the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act (Public Law 100-360), as amended in 1988. Under this plan, Medicaid pays for costs of direct, medically necessary services provided to eligible children who have disabilities as provided by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In Illinois, services that may be claimed for School-Based Health Services’ Medicaid reimbursement are:
• Audiology
• Developmental assessments
• Medical equipment
• Medical services
• Medical supplies
• Nursing services
• Occupational therapy
• Physical therapy
• Psychological services
• School health aide
• Social work
• Speech/language pathology
• Transportation
These services are frequently specified as “necessarily related services” in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) developed by schools for children with disabilities. When provided under a child’s IEP, the services are eligible for federal Medicaid reimbursement, usually half of the established cost to provide the service.
Schools may also claim some costs associated with the administration of the program, in addition to direct medical services. Allowable administrative claims include outreach activities designed to ensure that the entire student community has access to Medicaid-covered programs and services. Local Education Agencies (LEAs) may claim costs for specific administrative activities, as well as costs incurred for implementing and monitoring the Illinois state Medicaid plan, according to Illinois School Based Health Services ( http://www.sbhsillinois.com/).
Credit rating
At the beginning of the 2011-12 school year, Moody’s Investors Service upgraded District 44’s credit rating from Aa3 to Aa1. The new rating reflects the district’s financial position characterized by sound management and high reserve levels, below average debt levels and large tax base.
Moody’s, a credit rating agency for commercial and government entities, ranks the credit-worthiness of borrowers using a standardized rating scale and is one of the “Big Three” credit rating agencies.
Tod Altenburg, assistant superintendent for finance and facilities, said that “ ... this is very positive news for District 44. A higher credit score means that a lower interest rate would be charged if the District had to borrow money. This action by Moody’s is a strong endorsement of the sound educational and financial operations of the district.”
District 44 also has received the Association of School Business Officials International (ASBO) Certificate of Excellence in Financial Reporting for the past five years.
Earning and maintaining shareholder support is one of District 44’s four short-term goals for 2011-12. The goal reads: “In order to ensure the district’s future financial stability, the district will continue to identify revenue enhancements such as staff turnover savings, Medicaid reimbursement funds and energy cost efficiencies. Additionally, the district will continue to identify expenditure reductions through an on-going review of staffing levels and resources. The district seeks to realize $750,000 in funds as a result of these financial practices.”
The three examples given here show how District 44 is honoring its commitment to make the most effective use of our taxpayers’ dollars and achieve the district’s goals.