School Board Cuts $4M, 70 Staff Members (IL)
June 2, 2010
The Waukegan Unit School District Board of Education approved a set of measures Tuesday that cut some $4 million in spending, including the elimination of more than 70 employee positions.
The measures address an overall budget deficit estimated earlier this year at $9.74 million. The board rejected a larger package of cuts that included proposals to shorten the school day at Waukegan High School by one period and lay off six school nurses.
Jules Gaudin, the district’s chief financial officer, acknowledged the magnitude of the proposed cuts, but told a crowd of some 100 people at Lincoln Center that "this will allow us to survive in this difficult financial time, and allow us to thrive again" in the future.
"I suppose if we lived in a perfect world, there would be no cuts, (because) there would be more revenue," Gaudin said. "Like the gusher in the Gulf of Mexico, this lack of revenue perversely affects our spending, and forces us to make difficult and painful choices."
The plan to reduce the school day at Waukegan High would have involved trimming one period — from eight to seven for regular educatio n, and from nine to eight for students in the college studies program.
According to district figures, the concept would require the elimination of 30 teaching positions and amount to $1.35 million in decreased salary and benefit costs.
District administrators also presented the board with a proposal to increase class sizes districtwide by two students, a move that is subject to collective bargaining. According to district figures, the larger class sizes would eliminate 44 teaching positions and decrease costs by another $2 million.
The board also declined to eliminate six school nurse positions, which involves $416,085 in compensation. In May, a group of nurses appeared before the board and stated that 16 layoffs were being considered. In lieu of the nursing positions, the district planned to hire six "health aides" with a total compensation of $150,000.
Proposals that were approved by the board following nearly three hours of discussion included:
• Elimination of courses described as "low enrollment" — including accounting, art appreciation, business administration, desktop publishing and woodshop — which would eliminate six teaching positions and decrease costs by $270,000.
• Employee cuts included 13 special-education social workers (an $852,390 decrease in compensation); five curriculum-support staff ($426,754); four special-education related service personnel ($293,488); one special-education coordinator ($105,336); one assistant director of human resources ($90,000); and one behavior-intervention facilitator ($81,684).
More than a dozen speakers addressed the board to express th eir concerns about the spending proposals.
"I really feel like I can pass out right now. I don’t want to sound dramatic, but that’s how much I care," said McCall School teacher Jane Vester, asking the board to "look again with a clear, discerning eye (to) maintain core programs."
Waukegan High School juniors Romeo Jackson and Mariah McKay both asked the board to reconsider cutting low-enrollment electives and shortening the school day.
"If my day is cut short, then I’ll have to pick and choose," said Jackson, a College Studies Program student. "Forcing us to choose between something that will help us get into a good college (and) something that I’m passionate about is not fair."
After the public comments, board member Anita Hanna told the audience that "we do what we have to do" in light of the state’s financial crisis.
"We can’t have it both ways — do we balance the budget or do we run a school district in deficit mode?" Hanna said. "We have to make decisions. They may not be popular, but what do you want us to do?"
In the end, several of the proposed cuts met with mixed votes. For example, the recommendation to shorten the high school day was voted down 4-3, with board president Michael Rodriguez casting a tie-breaking vote.
It was pointed out Tuesday that negotiations are ongoing with the teachers’ unions. Earlier this year, reduction-in-force notices were sent to more than 560 different notices employees in advance of budgets being finalized at both the state and local levels.
Late last month, the district informed some 170 of those employees — third- and fourth-year teachers — that they would be brought back for the coming school year.