Elmhurst Community Unit School District 205 proposed a 4.61 percent tax levy for 2009, the lowest increase since 2002.

The levy would ask for more than $4 million if approved, but Assistant Superintendent of Finance Pat Masterton said the school board never receives the amount of money it proposes, and expects to receive about $1.2 million from the levy.

“I emphasize that the proposed tax levy is kind of an exercise in futility because you’re not going to receive that,” she said.

So although the levy requests about $90.9 million, the district expects to receive about $88.1 million from taxpayers this year.

Much of the levy is tied to law dictating that school district tax increases are limited to the lesser between consumer price index and five percent. This year, the CPI is 0.1 percent, an issue board member Jim Collins raised.

“What are the implications for next year’s budget if we have 0.1 percent CPI and ... costs are going up at two or three percent?” Collins said.

Masterton said the district is moving into a period of less revenue than it is accustomed to, and an economy with low CPI “is a difficult road to hope” for school districts.

Board Secretary David Carlquist said this year’s tax rate would be flat, were it not for $25 million in new construction.

“The only reason we’re going north of flat is new construction, which is a responsible thing to do,” he said.

The school board also unveiled the district’s school report cards for 2009.

The district progressed in many measures of academic testing, including Illinois Standards Achievement Test and Prairie State Achievement Exam scores.

However, the district did not meet the adequate yearly progress requirement for 2008-09 as prescribed by the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

Although more than 88 percent of students met or exceeded standards on all state tests, some sub-groups of students divided by ethnicity, socioeconomic background or other factors did not meet AYP requirements in the past year.

Specifically, York High School, Churchville Middle School, and Conrad Fisher Elementary School did not meet AYP due to certain sub-groups not making AYP.

“This now speaks to the fact that each of the schools, no matter how large or small, they have to tend to closing the achievement gap,” Superintendent Lynn Krizic said. “It means strategically as a district we need to target all of those sub-groups ... schools are going to have to look for alternative means and ways to deliver a quality curriculum in line with our expectations.”