The $9.4 billion budget for the upcoming school year was approved by the Chicago Board of Education, and a deal to supply resource officers to dozens of high schools in the city was also extended.

The votes were cast on Wednesday during the board’s regular meeting.

According to officials, the district’s budget for the 2024 fiscal year would include $4.8 billion in financing for schools, an increase of more than $240 million from the previous year. Additionally, that represents an increase of about $90 million from the $150 million increase district officials predicted back in April.

According to CPS, only 10% of schools will have flat or declining budgets this autumn, while 90% of schools will receive more money than they did the previous year. The district also claims that the budget contains an additional $128 million for special education teachers and paraprofessionals as well as $32 million for new financing for teaching positions in the district’s schools with the greatest need.

The state’s funding mechanism, according to CPS officials, has left them with “long-term financial challenges” and a $1.4 billion funding gap. In a report last week, the Civic Federation, an organisation that monitors government spending, stated that it has “significant reservations” about the district’s financial stability in the long run.

The Civic Federation expressed serious concerns in its report about how the District will handle a budget shortfall without further burdening property taxpayers or undoing the fiscal progress made in recent years. “With no guarantee that State or local revenues will be able to keep up with rising expenditures, and no long-term plan in place,” the organisation wrote.

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