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Budget season begins: Averill Park highlights maintenance shortfalls, rising energy costs and transportation pressures
Summary
At the Jan. 12 board meeting the district presented non-instructional budget priorities: understaffed maintenance and grounds, sharp projected delivery-rate increases from utilities, a proposed $100,000 recurring capital outlay cycle, and transportation challenges including driver shortages and an aging bus-wash system.
Carrie, the district’s operations presenter, opened the non-instructional portion of the 2026–27 budget discussion on Jan. 12 by laying out staffing and operating pressures across facilities and transportation.
On custodial and maintenance staffing, Carrie said second-shift custodial coverage leaves some buildings with high square-foot-per-custodian loads (Algonquin singled out as particularly high) and reported the maintenance team is effectively five people while the recommended ratio implies the need for an additional maintenance staffer. "Our current staffing is at 5 people," she said, noting that directors sometimes perform manual tasks now handled by maintenance staff.
Carrie detailed grounds staffing and equipment: three grounds employees cover roughly 70 acres and 11 fields, and the…
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