Naperville D203 to hire ‘outreach and student belonging’ directors as part of new $312B budget – Chicago Tribune

The Naperville District 203 School Board approved a new budget for the 2022-23 school year that will see an increase in revenue and spending and the addition of a new support staffer for students.

Revenue for the fiscal 2023 budget grew $5.6 million, or 1.8%, over fiscal 2022 to $311.1 billion. Meanwhile, expenditures rose by $6.3 million to $312.6 billion, a 2.1% increase. The budget deficit of $1.5 million is less than 0.5 percent of the total expected spending.

“The vast majority of the revenue increases come from local sources — both property taxes and an increase in the amount of other local revenue, which stems from the estimated increase we will receive in corporate personal-property replacement taxes,” said Michael Frances, the district’s chief financial officer.

Local property tax revenue is up $5.6 million over fiscal 2022, while state funding will increase by $900,000 and federal funding will drop by $3.4 million, in part because of the expiration of some COVID emergency dollars for schools, such as money that provided free lunch to all students.

“On behalf of the board, I do want to thank our administrators for working together on this budget,” board President Kristin Fitzgerald said. “I know it’s a huge process that goes department by department and looks at all of our current spending and our future spending.”

The budget adds two full-time directors of outreach and student belonging — one at each high school — whose job will be to provide support and resources and serve as a student and family advocate. They will work with the feeder schools as well.

“I know that’s been really welcomed by families, and so I’m really excited about that new initiative, and I’m grateful that that was proposed,” Fitzgerald said.

Salaries and benefits — the largest expense, at more than three-quarters of the budget — will increase by 4.1% over fiscal 2022.

There were no public comments at a public hearing Monday night.

Giles Bruce is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.