Proviso High School District 209 approved a new FY26 budget which will set up the district to end the year with an expected surplus of $6 million.

According to Deborah Hill, chief school business officer for D209, the district is expected to see a fund balance of $85,986,000.

The proposed budget was presented to the board for the required public hearing during the Aug. 12 school board meeting after its initial presentation to the board during a June 10 board meeting.

A breakdown of the budget by fund showed $84 million in education expenses, $11. 5 million in building expenses and $9.8 million in transportation expenses, which have increased by $2 million.

Hill said a few major expenses affecting the 2026 Fiscal Year budget are the increase of about 6.8 percent in total salary expenses for the district and a $7.5 million investment in Capital Projects among others.

Additional expenditures include $14 million in employee benefits, $7.2 million for supplies and materials and $21.2 million for purchased services.

“We have a system in place this year to make sure we are definitely staying on budget.”

Deborah Hill 
Chief Business Officer

A few revenue streams for the district will be affected in this upcoming budget, including the elimination of the ESSER Grant, which provided districts with COVID-19 Pandemic relief funding, and the decrease of corporate taxes by 15%. This caused a decrease in federal grants of $3.3 million and state grants by $93,000.

“The district finances improved significantly after 2019 as a result of those ESSER funds but the 2026 budget does indicate lower access and a lower surplus as we have received in prior years,” Hill said.

However, it is not only money out as the district will bring in a 3% increase in real estate taxes, taking district revenue from $78 million to $80.2 for this year’s budget.

The district also received an increase of $3.3 million for evidence-based funding.

Additionally, out-of-district tuition will increase by $800,000 through various forms including investment in dual degree programs and increases in enrollment in career academic programs.

Overall, the total expenses for the district will only increase by 1.2%, Hill said.

“We have a system in place this year to make sure we are definitely staying on budget like we have in the past but more so we have systems we are putting in place, primarily with our pre-purchasing committee where we’re evaluating every purchase that comes through the district office,” Hill said, adding they review each purchase over $2,500.

While the district is expected to end FY26 with a surplus, Hill said there has to be “honest conversation” around potential future threats to school funding.

Additionally, Hill said while Evidence-Based Funding did increase by $307 million across the state of Illinois, the district cannot be too confident those increases will continue.

“We cannot depend on those high level EBF’s amounts,” Hill said. “With the current climate as it relates to our finances across the country, we just don’t know. So that is why it is important that we maintain those healthy reserves.”

Hill also said federal funding to schools has been paused and there is uncertainty regarding the future of the U.S. Department of Education.

“I am pretty sure we have all seen the news as it relates to that,” Hill said. “So, we don’t know how that will impact us in the coming months, in the coming years. We just want to make sure we continue to remain fiscally conservative with our dollars.”