The Evanston Township High School District 202 Board of Education unanimously approved a tight but balanced 2026 fiscal year budget at a quiet meeting Monday night.
Set at $118.4 million, the total budget represents a 4% increase from the 2025 fiscal year budget and a 0.3% increase from the board’s tentative budget passed in June.
Chief Financial Officer Kendra Williams attributed the uptick from the tentative budget to a variety of factors, including a grant from Illinois’s Truants Alternative and Optional Education Program and additional spending to hire new special education personnel.
Williams said the budget demonstrates the district’s strong commitment to long-term fiscal sustainability amid property tax delays and threats to federal funding for public schools. While federal revenue streams have largely remained consistent this year, she added that the future of that funding is on shaky ground.
“Sometimes it seems like it’s here today, and it could be gone tomorrow,” she said.
Cook County’s property tax billing has also been postponed for months, she said. According to the approved budget, property taxes represent 84% of the district’s operating funds. With delays in this revenue distribution, the district has avoided short-term pitfalls because of its healthy budgeting, Williams said.
School board members praised the balanced budget, but worried about external issues straining an already-tight financial plan. Despite federal grants comprising only 4% of the district’s revenue, Superintendent Marcus Campbell said losing that money “would be catastrophic.”
“Could we navigate it and get through it? Absolutely,” he said. “Would it be very nasty and change the face of what ETHS looks and feels like? Absolutely.”
Board member John Martin pointed out that the district’s payroll and fringe benefits — 79% of its spending — would essentially be fixed in a scenario without federal funding, forcing the district to cut costs elsewhere. Williams added that federal grants from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act are especially critical as the special education department’s needs continue to grow.
A zero-based budgeting approach, in which all expenses are reevaluated annually, maintained a healthy and balanced budget for the 19th consecutive year, Williams said. The method upholds the district’s values by prioritizing instruction and reasonable student-teacher ratios, avoiding personnel layoffs and using the budget to further district initiatives, she added.
“The budget really tells the story of how we go about providing equitable and excellent education, how we are centering student well-being while also being fiscally accountable and making sure we’re keeping an eye on community engagement and partnerships,” Williams said.
Campbell also restated ETHS’s response to news Monday morning that federal immigration agents were expected in Evanston in the coming days. The high school is guiding administrators and staff on students’ rights and protocols for potential interactions with federal officials, Campbell said.
“We’re fully committed to protecting the rights of all students to a free and public education, regardless of immigration status,” he said. “We will hold our responsibility to ensure that every student has access to education, resources and a safe place to learn.”
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