Work on next year's budget resumes Tuesday night for the Rock Island school board. Chief Financial Officer Bob Beckwith will present some preliminary figures but no major decisions will be made for a couple of weeks.
Beckwith gave board members a brief look at the budget in October so they could set the tax levy for this year, but since then some changes have occurred - at that time he projected the deficit would be 2.1 million dollars.
His presentation will include a possible budget deficit or surplus, and if he's predicting a deficit next year, Beckwith will have to show how the budget could be balanced.
The first real deadline for next year's budget is late March or early April - that's when the state of Illinois requires school districts to send out layoff notices - 45 days before the last day of school.
Otherwise the Rock Island school board has until September to give its final approval to a budget.
