New literacy curriculum, girls high school flag football part of proposed Naperville D203 budget

Chicago Tribune

06-05-2025

The Naperville School District 203 budget proposed for 2025-26 calls for new kindergarten to high school literacy curriculum and money to cover startup costs for a new high school flag football program, a newly state-sanctioned sport for girls.
The spending plan was presented Monday at the same meeting where the board recognized two outgoing members, Kristen Fitzgerald and Donna Wandke, who each served three terms, and swore in new members Marc Willensky and Holly Joy Blastic and returning members Amanda McMillen and Charles Cush.
Revenue in the new fiscal year is expected to be about $355.6 million, a 3.29% increase over the 2024-2025 budget, Michael Frances, the district's chief financial officer, told the board. Property tax accounts for about 85.4% of the district's income and is up $11.3 million over current fiscal year.
The district is anticipating a reduction in state and federal funding, but those numbers are not yet known, Frances said.
Expenditures are projected to be about $379.5 million, with about $22.2 million spent on one-time capital improvement projects to be funded with money accrued in savings over several years. The district is in a midst of a multiyear project to build an addition to Ranch View Elementary School and to make improvements at Naperville North High School and Connections Transition Services.
The district plans to add four regular-sized classrooms, student restrooms, instruction and office space for social work, English language services, staff collaboration and new staff at Ranch View, a kindergarten through fifth grade building.
At Naperville North, the district plans to remove inadequate mobile classrooms, repurpose and increase instruction space, add a turf field for physical education classes and address stormwater issues.
Salaries and benefits make up about 75.5% of the district's expenses, Frances said.
Among the new budget initiatives is a new kindergarten through 12th grade literacy curriculum, which will cost about $3.2 million over the course of three years.
The current literacy curriculum was last refreshed more than 10 years ago and is considered outdated, budget documents said.
The new program is in response to significant advances in literacy research, including the science of reading, and recent state guidance, Lisa Xagas, assistant superintendent for strategy and engagement, said in an email. The updated curriculum will support foundational reading skills, vocabulary development, advanced comprehension and writing instruction to ensure students receive a high-quality literacy education aligned with best practices and research, she said.
About $72,000 is being budgeted for girls flag football programs at Naperville North and Naperville Central high schools. The goal is to start a program this fall, Xagas said.
The Illinois High School Association debuted girls flag football in fall 2024. More than 100 schools statewide participated in the inaugural program and nearly 40 other schools have expressed interest in fielding a team in 2025, according to the IHSA.
There's been a strong interest in the sport demonstrated through district clinics, Xagas said, and its addition aligns with D203's commitment to equity in sports. The program will include varsity and junior varsity teams for students of all skill levels.
The district is also budgeting about $15,000 for a new support staff mentoring program and $7,000 for a leadership academy.
The mentoring program is designed to enhance the onboarding of new educational support professionals and provide ongoing professional growth opportunities for returning staff, while the leadership academy invests in the growth of staff to prepare more leaders, Xagas said.
Staffing projections are expected to remain about the same as this current year. The student population should be stable for the foreseeable future at the elementary and high school levels and a small increase is projected for the junior high level, according to district documents.
The district's citizen finance advisors will review the tentative budget later this month and the school board will consider its adoption June 16.
By law, the district must adopt the budget by Sept. 30 but opts to complete the process by the July 1 start of the fiscal year, Superintendent Dan Bridges said.
Prior to the administration's budget presentation, the board acknowledged the work of Fitzgerald and Wandke, who have been board members since 2013 and did not seek reelection.
'You are both advocates at your core,' board member Kristine Gericke said. 'You have advocated eloquently, joyfully and fearlessly for our students within our community and those beyond at the state and federal levels. You remain undeterred in your quest to ensure every student achieves a measurable success.'
Fitzgerald said the district has worked hard to surround students with love and care and make fewer students feel invisible.
'At its heart and at its core, this district is here to dedicate itself to kids,' Fitzgerald said. 'I feel like that dedication for students to achieve is always a part of 203 and that is what 203 is. And I'm so proud of that.'
'It was an honor to be the voice of the community and asking questions and being a steward of taxpayer dollars,' Wandke said.
The new board selected Cush to be its next president, succeeding Gericke, who was named vice president.
Board member Melissa Kelley Black nominated Willensky as both president and vice president but he withdrew his name from consideration.