Skokie SD 68 board adopts $13.3M capital plan, $35.9M education appropriation for 2024–25

The Skokie School District 68 Board of Education on Sept. 19 adopted its fiscal 2024–25 budget, setting the district’s fiscal year from July 1, 2024, through June 30, 2025. The resolution appropriates $35,856,179 from the educational fund, $3,229,457 from the operations and maintenance fund, $2,345,000 from debt service, $2,131,396 from transportation, $287,550 from municipal retirement (including $655,450 for Social Security/Medicare), $13,325,000 from capital projects and $340,000 from the Tort Immunity Fund.

Assistant Superintendent for Business Kenya Austin, who presented the final proposal at a budget hearing earlier in the meeting, cautioned that some line items are “projected” pending the district’s final audit and that she had reorganized several transfers to reflect current accounts. "The final audit for last school year is not done, so these numbers could change slightly," Austin said during her presentation. She explained that she separated operating and non‑operating funds so the board can see which dollars affect the district’s financial profile.

In a follow‑up exchange, trustees pressed administration for clarification about differences between the tentative budget and the final version, including a previously proposed $10,000,000 working‑cash transfer that Austin said she expects to reconcile with the treasurer’s office. Austin told trustees she consolidated a $13,000,000 sweep from working cash to capital projects to capture higher project costs for the ECC.

Board members moved and seconded the adoption resolution; the president announced the budget was adopted by recorded roll call. The board packet and memo accompanying the presentation note projected revenue shifts (local, state and federal), a roughly $1.9 million increase in expenditures from the tentative budget (including roughly $1.7 million in education/salary/benefit adjustments), and an increase in some federal IDEA pre‑K funding and National School Lunch Program amounts.

The board did not publish a line‑by‑line vote count in the record beyond the recorded roll call that showed the motion carried. Administration said staff will report back if figures materially change when the final audit is posted.