Plainfield D202 May Sell $10M In Bonds To Offset Pandemic Costs

PLAINFIELD, IL — The Plainfield School District 202 may sell up to $10 million in working cash bonds to ensure adequate funding for capital improvements this school year and for the next three school years.

District officials are taking this step because of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the district’s budget both this year and in coming years until the economy recovers. The bond proceeds combined with $5.4 million in projected cost savings and increased revenues will help the district weather the ongoing pandemic’s financial impact.

The D202 Board of Education approved a resolution of intent to sell the bonds at its Monday meeting. It will hold a public hearing as required by law at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 8. The Board is expected to vote on the sale at its March 15 meeting and the community will be able to comment on the proposed bond sale over the next two months.

If approved, the bond proceeds will pay for about $4.8 million in scheduled and anticipated capital projects. Funding for this work otherwise may have had to come from the Education Fund, which pays for general daily operating expenses including salaries, programs and support services.

"The pandemic really hit our bottom line hard, as it did for every school district," said Tony Arbogast, assistant superintendent for business and operations. "This plan will create some fiscal flexibility, so we won’t have to put off necessary capital projects. We can also keep as many cuts as possible out of the classroom and continue serving our students and families at the levels they need and deserve."

Currently, pandemic-related expenses stand at about $7.8 million. That includes:

• Air filters- $93,058
• Hand sanitizer - $282,730
• Cleaning supplies - $586,215
• Laptops - $1,732,200 (the first payment of a total $6,784,240 expenditure)
• WiFi Hotspots - $90,000

The district is set to receive more than $6.6 million in grants from the second coronavirus-relief package approved last month by federal lawmakers.

That $900 billion relief package included about $2.25 billion for Illinois public school districts, more than four times the amount they received from the first federal relief package, according to Carmen Ayala, the state's superintendent of education. D202 will receive $6,609,550 according to the Illinois State Board of Education.

D202 spokesperson Tom Hernandez told Patch that the Illinois State Board of Education has not "given us the actual dollar amounts or guidelines on what it can or can't be used for."

"That's a preliminary number, so no firm plans yet," he said about the grant. "But we will definitely use it to offset COVID-related costs. For example, buying more bottle fillers at the schools to keep large groups from gathering at one area for water and making sure kids don't need to follow the traffic pattern from upstairs, all the way down for water, and back up."

D202 has also realized about $5.4 million in pandemic-related savings from Dec. 31, 2019 to Dec. 31, 2020:

• $3,389.272 – transportation salaries and contractual costs
• $793,389 – food service salaries and contractual costs
• $416,448 – substitute costs
• $839,576- new food service reimbursement revenues

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