Post by refbasics on Mar 23, 2010 19:26:56 GMT -6
www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-0324-naperville-school-cuts-20100323,0,2308733.story
chicagotribune.com
Indian Prairie school board eliminates 145 teacher jobs
Budget cuts also increased, to a total of $21.4 million
By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Tribune reporter
7:08 PM CDT, March 23, 2010
Calling it "sobering" and "depressing," officials in Indian Prairie School District 204 decided this week to lay off 145 teachers and increase budget cuts to a total of $21.4 million for the 2010-11 school year.
Board members on Monday approved $12.2 million in cuts, which come on top of $9.2 million in cuts approved in December. School officials blame the state's ongoing financial woes and the governor's proposal to reduce education funding next year.
District 204 comprises 33 schools and about 29,000 students from Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield.
Officials said the reduction of the teachers, representing 6.7 percent of the staff, won't appreciably increase class sizes. Fifty-five elementary school teachers will be fired. The maximum class size will increase from 29 to 31 in second through fifth grades. Class sizes will stay the same in kindergarten and first grade.
At the middle school level, 30 teachers will be let go, while another 35 teachers will be removed at the high school level. Maximum class sizes at those two levels will increase by two students, which in some high school classes could mean as many as 35 to 37 students, officials said. Special education and preschool programs will lose 25 positions.
Officials vowed that as positions reopen or funding comes through from the state, fired teachers could be rehired.
Superintendent Kathy Birkett said classes with low enrollments will no longer be offered, and some music classes will be eliminated.
Birkett vowed that administrators and staff will work to ensure students continue to be challenged.
"Our students will still succeed because those are the kids we have," she said. "They'll succeed in the new normal."
But many music teachers and parents at Monday's board meeting asked officials to restore middle school music technique classes, which are to be cut. The smaller classes provide more personal instruction for band and orchestra members.
Such instruction has helped the District 204 music program acquire national recognition, said Scott Thomas, a program host at classical music station WFMT-FM, who has two sons in the orchestra program at Gregory Middle School.
"Kids need that time to learn how to play their instruments well," he said. "It's one of the reasons that District 204's music program is well-known."
Student fees will increase, including for athletes at the middle and high school levels, who will see fees doubled. District 204 plans an administrative salary freeze, central office cuts, an elimination of overtime and a reduction of substitute teacher pay from $90 to $85 daily.
There are other cuts planned in operation and maintenance that can reach the $1 million mark.
Freelance reporter Jack McCarthy contributed to this report.
nahmed@tribune.com
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
chicagotribune.com
Indian Prairie school board eliminates 145 teacher jobs
Budget cuts also increased, to a total of $21.4 million
By Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah, Tribune reporter
7:08 PM CDT, March 23, 2010
Calling it "sobering" and "depressing," officials in Indian Prairie School District 204 decided this week to lay off 145 teachers and increase budget cuts to a total of $21.4 million for the 2010-11 school year.
Board members on Monday approved $12.2 million in cuts, which come on top of $9.2 million in cuts approved in December. School officials blame the state's ongoing financial woes and the governor's proposal to reduce education funding next year.
District 204 comprises 33 schools and about 29,000 students from Naperville, Aurora, Bolingbrook and Plainfield.
Officials said the reduction of the teachers, representing 6.7 percent of the staff, won't appreciably increase class sizes. Fifty-five elementary school teachers will be fired. The maximum class size will increase from 29 to 31 in second through fifth grades. Class sizes will stay the same in kindergarten and first grade.
At the middle school level, 30 teachers will be let go, while another 35 teachers will be removed at the high school level. Maximum class sizes at those two levels will increase by two students, which in some high school classes could mean as many as 35 to 37 students, officials said. Special education and preschool programs will lose 25 positions.
Officials vowed that as positions reopen or funding comes through from the state, fired teachers could be rehired.
Superintendent Kathy Birkett said classes with low enrollments will no longer be offered, and some music classes will be eliminated.
Birkett vowed that administrators and staff will work to ensure students continue to be challenged.
"Our students will still succeed because those are the kids we have," she said. "They'll succeed in the new normal."
But many music teachers and parents at Monday's board meeting asked officials to restore middle school music technique classes, which are to be cut. The smaller classes provide more personal instruction for band and orchestra members.
Such instruction has helped the District 204 music program acquire national recognition, said Scott Thomas, a program host at classical music station WFMT-FM, who has two sons in the orchestra program at Gregory Middle School.
"Kids need that time to learn how to play their instruments well," he said. "It's one of the reasons that District 204's music program is well-known."
Student fees will increase, including for athletes at the middle and high school levels, who will see fees doubled. District 204 plans an administrative salary freeze, central office cuts, an elimination of overtime and a reduction of substitute teacher pay from $90 to $85 daily.
There are other cuts planned in operation and maintenance that can reach the $1 million mark.
Freelance reporter Jack McCarthy contributed to this report.
nahmed@tribune.com
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune