Naperville School District 203 administrators and the board of education are in the final phase of reviewing the proposed budget for the upcoming fiscal year as a targeted adoption date of Monday, June 16 is on the horizon.
During the third of four workshop sessions on the proposed 2025-26 school year budget at the Tuesday, June 2 meeting, tensions rose as one board member repeated past concerns around general budgetary policies and procedures.
Board member brings up past concerns about budget practices
Amid the most recent discussion of the draft 2025-26 school year budget, board member Melissa Kelley Black shared concerns about policies and procedures regarding Naperville 203’s budget practices around such issues as application of accounting codes.
Kelley Black also discussed other ancillary financial matters, including past budget audits and the routine task of reviewing the bills and claims before they are brought to the full board for a recommendation, as the third workshop took place. Kelley Black has raised these concerns in prior tense board-level conversations.
“I’m not looking to point fingers,” Kelley Black said. “I simply have asked for this information, and it seems reasonable that we would want to know where the money was going.”
Kelley Black’s concerns around the theme of fiduciary duties continued as the most recent audit was discussed, but board member Joseph Kozminski called a “point of order,” and the back-and-forth ended.
“That is a part of last year’s budget,” Kozminski said of Kelley Black’s introducing the audit into the conversation. “That is not a part of the budget that we are going to approve.”
Kelley Black, in response to Kozminski’s parliamentary procedure, said, “My fellow board members should be willing to listen to me, even if they disagree with me.”
D203 superintendent, other board members defend current protocol
At one point during the discussion, Kelley Black discussed Naperville 203’s budgetary compliance with state laws and guidance and raised concerns and questions.
For his part, Superintendent Dan Bridges emphasized the district has a long practice of following the letter of the law, and independent analyses and ratings in relation to the budget and overall financial condition back this up, he noted.
The Illinois State Board of Education has given Naperville 203 a 4.0 financial rating, which is the highest possible.
Bridges also pointed out Naperville 203 takes part in periodic audits with the DuPage Regional Office of Education, with no findings having been reported.
“The accusation that we are out of compliance with the law or the state board is false,” Bridges said.
Several board members, including Kristine Gericke, defended Naperville 203’s administrators and the policies and procedures that are in place. Gericke shared her own observations about the district being in compliance with all state-level requirements.
“I’m just really trying to underscore here — and I’m really, really trying to keep my cool on this one — because the people in this district work incredibly hard and are incredibly transparent at every single turn with all of us,” Gericke said. “Nothing has been hidden, nothing has been purposely kept from somebody or some people. It is all there, if we choose to do what we are supposed to do.”
Gericke further stated that accusations about budget-related practices take away from Naperville 203’s core mission of serving students.
“I am very frustrated that at another board meeting, we are having the same conversation about mysterious information, mysterious noncompliance,” Gericke said. “It is not serving our students to be going around in circles about something that does not exist.”
Naperville 203 adopts budget before start of fiscal year
The state requires all Illinois public school districts have adopted budgets in place by late September. In Naperville 203, officials have long held to the practice of having it adopted in late June, shortly before the start of the new fiscal year that begins July 1.
“The work toward developing a budget for the coming fiscal year is really a year-round process, but May and June really become crunch time for us,” Bridges said.
In addition to the fourth and final workshop, the board at the upcoming June 16 meeting will hold a public hearing.
Since the initial budget presentation, board members have submitted questions. Administrators have been posting them with accompanying answers on Board Docs.
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