CALUMET CITY | Hoover-Schrum Elementary District 157 has approved some changes to this past year's spending plan.

The School Board held a hearing Tuesday and subsequently approved an amended 2008-09 budget reflecting higher transportation costs than originally anticipated.

The revised budget, which covers the financial year beginning July 1, 2008, to Tuesday still has the district operating in the black overall, Business Manager Alicia Evans said.

"We should be all right. We are not in dire straits. Everything is good," she said.

The Calumet City school system had budgeted $134,000 for special education transportation but as of the end of May, actual costs were about $221,000, Evans said.

The higher-than-expected cost was primarily due to the Exceptional Children Have Opportunities cooperative switching to a new transportation provider, she said.

District 157 is among those local school districts that have students served by ECHO.

The district had anticipated ending the fiscal year with a total $287,399 surplus in its operating funds, but the revised budget reduces that amount to $188,649, Evans said.

The amended budget was filed Tuesday with the Illinois State Board of Education, she said.