The Chicago Board of Education will host its third set of budget hearings for the 2017 fiscal year on Monday after another revision of its annual spending plan.
Officials will outline $104 million in spending reductions through school spending freezes, furloughs and other cuts. The school board is expected to vote on those changes Feb. 22, according to Chicago Public Schools.
Hearings on the cuts follow a tense week of exchanges between CPS CEO Forrest Claypool and Gov. Bruce Rauner, who traded criticism over who bears responsibility for the district's budget problems.
CPS says budget trims are necessary because of a Rauner veto that cost CPS $215 million in state aid, though one of the Republican governor's top education officials said the cuts are being laid out even as lawmakers work on proposals that include more money for the system.
The district's amended budget says it continues to pursue the money. "If it is not received, CPS will take additional cost-saving steps," the budget says.
CPS principals have until Monday afternoon to submit budget cuts, after the district announced a $46 million "spending freeze" as part of its latest bid to cover for the lack of state assistance.
Budget hearings are scheduled for 2 and 6 p.m. Monday at CPS headquarters, 42 W. Madison St. Members of the public who wish to speak are asked to register at least a half-hour in advance of each session.
After first approving a $5.6 billion operating budget in August, the board voted to amend the plan in December to account for $55 million in new expenses related to its agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union.
CPS freezes some school spending on nonpersonnel items Juan Perez Jr.Hundreds of Chicago Public Schools principals face a narrow window to trim expenses on textbooks and programs after the district announced a $46 million "spending freeze" in its latest bid to cover $215 million in state assistance that didn't come through.
The measure forces principals to re-engineer...
Hundreds of Chicago Public Schools principals face a narrow window to trim expenses on textbooks and programs after the district announced a $46 million "spending freeze" in its latest bid to cover $215 million in state assistance that didn't come through.
The measure forces principals to re-engineer...
(Juan Perez Jr.)The now $5.4 billion operating budget assumes the state will send $111 million to ease the cost of the district's rising pension payment.
jjperez@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @Perezjr
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