On June 26, the Lincoln Way Community High School District 210 Board of Education adopted an amended fiscal‑year budget that records recently received property tax receipts and life‑safety bond proceeds and preserves an operating surplus of about $2.01 million, board members said.

Board action came after a public budget hearing at which district finance staff recommended formalizing adjustments made to capture additional property tax distributions received before June 30 and to record proceeds from the district’s recently closed life‑safety bond sale. "The final amended budget before you tonight in your packet materials includes an operating surplus of $2,014,712," said Michael Dubeck, who presented the budget and was later appointed district treasurer.

The adoption captures bond proceeds from an early‑June closing. Dubeck told the board the district’s debt certificates and bonds sold with "winning rates just under 3 and a half percent for the debt certificate and 4.09 for the bonds," and that the district has placed the life‑safety proceeds into separate subaccounts to track investment returns and spending. He said the district is working with PMA for short‑term investment of funds that will not be needed until fiscal 2026 and that the district expects to meet drawdown timing requirements: "we have to show that we have a plan that we anticipate spending 85% of the proceeds within 3 years," Dubeck said.

The board also approved two sets of invoices: $4,996,292.79 covering May 16–June 26, 2025, and $2,635,427.09 in anticipated July (fiscal‑year 2026) invoices. Dubeck identified the largest upcoming items as the district’s liability insurance prebill (about $670,000) and a bus‑lease payment (about $1.2 million). The board voted unanimously on both approvals.

In the treasurer’s report for May 2025, the board heard that through 11 months of the fiscal year district revenues were roughly $6.8 million and expenses $8.7 million, with total cash reported at $17.4 million on May 31. Dubeck said additional property tax distributions arrived by June 30 and would be reflected in year‑end reporting. He noted liquid investment rates at about 4.2% and that the district will invest bond proceeds until they are needed for life‑safety projects.

As part of the fiscal actions, the board approved an annual accounting transfer for capital projects, moving $4,500,000 into the capital projects fund to pay for summer projects that will be charged to fiscal 2026. The board and staff described this transfer as a routine year‑end accounting step to align cash flows and project payments.

Board members asked clarifying questions about interest projections, how excess investment earnings would be handled and the schedule for project spending. Dubeck said projected interest earnings (discussed as approximately $1.6 million in one internal projection) were conservative and that the board would decide later how to allocate any unspent investment returns once projects are complete.

Less urgent items in the finance portion included a short discussion of higher‑than‑usual health‑insurance claims charging (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois) and staff work with the benefits broker on prescription cost containment. The district also noted it had included a memo on the bond closing in board materials to aid auditors and public transparency.

The board voted unanimously on the amended budget, the invoice approvals and the capital transfer. The board scheduled its amended August meeting date for Aug. 18, 2025, to allow required public‑notice intervals for tentative and final budgets.