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L-P High School adopts FY27 budget · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  LP High School adopted FY27 budget Written by Emily Beebe. This
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  article is being read by an automated voice brought to you by
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  Everlett. LaSalle Peru Township High school adopted its FY27 budget
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  during their public hearing and regular board meeting September 23rd by a
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  6-0 vote, with one member absent. This vote comes as the school
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  is running a 1.6 million operating deficit, a plan that is blank,
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  and a superintendent who said nothing in it concerns him. Three of
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  the district's for operating funds projects expenditures exceeding revenues according to the
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  budget filed on the Illinois State Board of Education, form SD 5036.
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  The Education Fund, which is the core fund for student instruction, projects
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  16.97 million
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  in revenues against 17.87 million in expenditures, which leaves a deficit
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  of 988. For our operating and maintenance projects, there
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  is 2.73 million in revenues against 3.81 million in expenditures,
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  which leaves a deficit of 1,080,584. For
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  transportation projects, there is 1.22 million in revenues against 1.28
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  million in expenditures, which leaves a deficit of 53,556.
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  Combined, the operating deficit totals 1,615,901. LP
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  Superintendent Clayton Theisinger said the deficit, which he estimated at 3.6 million,
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  was driven by facilities costs carrying over from The prior year. It
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  wasn't misspending or anything that we're aware of, Theisinger said.
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  It was just facilities related. When asked whether the district has a
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  plan to close They gap, Thiesinger said it comes down to managing
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  expenditures and aligning them with revenues, a process he said takes multiple
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  years. The state requires a formal reduction plan for substantial deficits. There's
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  nothing in
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  the budget that stands out to me as concerning, Thiesinger said. Pages
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  22 through 26 of the budget cover The deficit reduction plan for
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  FY28 through FY30. They list zero revenues, zero expenditures, and zero across
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  every fund for every year. On page 27, where narrative and assumptions
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  are to be described, EBF projections, tax rates, and salary and benefit
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  costs are blank. These Zinger pointed to the budget itself in the
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  notes on page 21, which states the plan is required only if
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  the deficit exceeds a certain threshold. The district does not cross it.
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  Under Illinois School Code, a plan is mandated when the deficit exceeds
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  one third of the estimated ending fund balance. On debt, Thiesinger said,
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  the district carries approximately fifty two point five million dollars in long
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  term outstanding debt, reflecting FY twenty Fire The FY twenty six audit
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  is not yet complete. This year, debt service totals 5.87 million
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  million in interest,$3.47 million in principal. Last year the budget showed 5.67
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  million. Debt service is increasing, which means more money leaving the district
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  before it reaches a classroom. In November 2025, the board authorized up
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  to 4.5 million in new general obligation debt certificates, adding to the
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  outstanding bond portfolio. While operating funds run a deficit, education is nearly
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  a million dollars short, OM over a million dollars in capital spending
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  continues. Fire prevention and safety carry 1.5 million, in construction. Capital
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  projects carry 1.33 million. Thiesinger confirmed approximately 1.4
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  million in building projects within operations and maintenance, bringing total building expenditures
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  to approximately 4.23 million. Most are associated with projects that began
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  last year’s including The Eureka Savings Bank Ag Center, a vocational and
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  agricultural facility. Most were anticipated as part of the district's financial planning.
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  The spending was funded through capital reserves and a 500,000 naming donation
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  from Eureka Savings Bank, not through borrowing. Thiesinger said the district is
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  working toward a more balanced budget. The amended FY twenty-six budget projected
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  an operating deficit of three point seven nine million dollars, compared with
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  less than half that in FY twenty seven. The deficit is shrinking,
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  but there remains no plan to close it entirely. Thiesinger confirmed the
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  board approved a forensic audit in March to ensure finances were managed
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  appropriately and to check for fraud, embezzlement, or irregularities following last year's
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  misconduct investigation. The firm, Clifton Larson Allen, is reviewing the district's paper
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  trail.