Thursday, October 8 Agenda Review Standing Committee Meeting Finance & Audit

The Chicago Public Schools Finance and Audit Committee meeting, held October 8, 2026 (as stated in the transcript; metadata lists October 9), opened with a presentation from education advocacy groups on Illinois school funding and potential revenue sources. Presenters said the Evidence-Based Funding formula is underfunded by about $6.96 billion statewide and argued that current annual increases of roughly $350 million would not fully fund it until 2035. They discussed a 10% digital advertising tax that passed in the spring 2026 session, a worldwide combined corporate reporting proposal estimated to raise $1.2 billion, a proposed billionaire wealth tax, and other tax changes. The committee discussed coalition-building and legislative barriers; no district spending or procurement action resulted from this presentation.

District staff presented two student-fee policies for consideration at the October 22 board meeting: a revised student fee policy and a revised fee-waiver policy. Staff said neither policy has financial implications. The proposed fee policy would standardize fee schedules, require fee information to be recorded in Aspen and posted on school websites, and route requests for exceptions to a student fee committee. The waiver policy would require waiver information with each fee notice, establish an appeals process, and protect family information. Committee members voted to recommend both policies to the full board; no contracts, vendors, or procurement awards were discussed.