A second Lake County school district has found itself in a multi-million dollar budget crisis this year, with Wauconda Community Unit School District 118 attempting to cover a $4. 2 million deficit that originated in last year’s spending plan. An online petition criticizing the district garnered more than 1, 200 signatures, and over 100 people attended Thursday’s Board of Education meeting. The board was scheduled to vote on the proposed budget, but that was postponed until a meeting on Jan. 15. Earlier this year, Round Lake Area District 116 found itself with an $11 million shortfall in its budget, which was blamed on its former chief financial officer and required the district to cut administrative positions and halve salary increases for all staff for the next two fiscal years, with the approval of its teachers’ union. Wauconda D118 includes Cotton Creek School, Robert Crown School, Wauconda Grade School, Matthews Middle School, Wauconda Middle School and Wauconda High School. The district is currently under the leadership of interim Co-Superintendents Todd Leden and Brian Wegley, with former Superintendent David Wilm having left last year. According to a district webpage about the budget deficit, during an Aug. 7 meeting regarding the close of last year’s budget, Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Cameron Willis, who is responsible for D118’s budget according to the district, notified the Board of Education that the 2024-25 budget ended with a $2. 5 million deficit. That deficit “propagated” to the 2025-26 budget, which was approved on Sept. 18 with a $4. 2 million deficit. Willis plans to resign effective June 30. Wegley said an audit had found “no misappropriation of funds,” but “consequential errors in the budget.” “We have corrected and tried to move forward,” Wegley said. Since learning about the deficit, the district has reduced the budget by about $1. 5 million, but a deficit of $3. 6 million remains. The district has not had any other deficit budgets in recent years, a representative said. Deficit reduction plan The district has created a webpage detailing its budget-deficit-reduction plan. D118 has more than 800 employees and 4, 100 students, with an operating budget of about $80 million. According to district leadership, about 75% of the budget goes to salaries and benefits, meaning that balancing the budget will impact staffing. Current plans, which the district said are subject to change, include an 18% reduction in administrative and non-union positions, a 5% reduction in support staff positions, and a 9% reduction in certified staff. Parents shared rumors of staff members being notified that their jobs will be eliminated, despite the plan not having been officially voted upon. The district said that for some of the positions listed on the deficit-reduction plan, D118 officials have “held conversions” with individual staff members. The identified positions are scheduled to be eliminated beginning in the 2026-27 school year. During the meeting, Wegley pushed back on calls to reduce the assistant superintendent positions, although there would likely be reductions seen in positions supporting those roles. The district is “running fast” as it is, he argued. “The consequences of not having those positions . we don’t see the opportunity to run without those,” Wegley said. When asked if any programs would be cut, the district said, “All course offerings, core and elective programs, athletics, activities, and required support for students with IEPs and English Learners will continue.” According to the district, one of the factors adding to the deficit is lower than anticipated state funding and the loss of federal ESSER COVID funds. While the district had been aware that the federal funds would be ending, additional staff had been added and were not reduced “at the same pace,” the representative said. They also listed a less-than-anticipated amount of state funding. The district said it had received about $300, 000 less than anticipated for the 2025-26 school year. Beyond state revenue issues, other contributing factors listed on the website include out-of-district tuition and out-of-district transportation spending. Former Superintendent Wilm has been contacted regarding the deficit, the district said, but a request for any response he may have given was not answered. According to the district, consulting firm Transformational Business Services has begun an “independent, external audit,” reviewing how the district’s business office manages budgeting, reporting and spending, the district said. The results will be shared with the community when the review is complete, and the district will “implement any necessary improvements” as part of the budget plan. But parent Emmylou Grimm said families’ “confidence has not been restored.” She pointed to a statement from the board president who said during the meeting that if the members had known the extent of the deficit, they would have made different decisions. “That was disappointing, because our community expects leadership to have the information before making decisions that impact students, staff and the district’s financial health,” Grimm said. Seeing some of the “fundamental questions” being asked Thursday, Grimm said board members, staff and the community were still not clear on “key information” to understand or evaluate the impact of the plan. She is critical of what she considers to be overly broad responses to questions lacking the “data or specifics the community needs to understand these decisions.” Grimm also has concerns about the very same people who had had oversight leading up to the budgeting crisis making the decisions about how to get out of it. She pushed for the district to work with community members and involve them in the process. Attempts to get comments from the Illinois State Board of Education were unsuccessful. The district said it is aware of the online petition, and recognizes, “many of our community members are upset and concerned about what this situation could mean for students.” “The district’s goal remains to maintain course offerings, core and elective programs, athletics, activities and required support for students with IEPs and English Learners,” a representative said. Questions included in the circulating petition will be answered and posted on the district’s budget deficit plan website, the district said. The district is “committed to returning to a balanced budget within three years by making adjustments to operations and staffing levels,” and is not considering a referendum for raising local taxes beyond the tax cap limit. “The district’s goal remains to restore the district to sound financial footing with a focus of maintaining course offerings, core and elective programs, athletics, activities, and required supports for students with IEPs and English Learners,” a representative said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/11/17/wauconda-school-district-deficit/
Second Lake district facing multi-million-dollar budget crisis: ‘Confidence has not been restored’
