District 300 board approves 363 layoffs
The chanting, cheering, booing and impassioned pleas of parents, teachers and students in Community Unit District 300 failed to sway board members who narrowly passed a resolution to lay off hundreds of teachers at the end of the school year.
The school board on Wednesday voted 4-3 to approve 363 layoffs, part of a plan to overcome the district's $5 million budget and restructure secondary school schedules.
But administrators and school board members vow that the final blow won't be as painful as the initial wallop.
Only between 75 and 150 teachers are expected to remain laid off before the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year.
“We will hopefully reverse this decision in a week or two,” school board President Joe Stevens said. “Half or more will be hired back. We are only buying time.”
The board was following through on a plan, agreed on Tuesday, to reorganize the secondary grades. But Wednesday night the board voted only on the part of the plan calling for the elimination of all teachers with between one and seven years of experience, except for those in the bilingual, speech language and special education areas.
Nontenured and tenured teachers were included, as well as administrators. The estimated cost savings to the district will be from $3.9 million to $7.8 million, district leaders said.
Stevens, who voted yes along with board members Karen Roeckner, Monica Clark and Karen Plaza, said the board faced statutory deadlines to notify teachers of reductions in force.
Others, though, said more time was needed to implement changes.
Board member Anne Miller said she felt responsible for asking the administration to research what the educational program would be like after restructuring.
“I apologize to our administration for making you look like the bad guys,” Miller said. “You were doing what I asked you to do and now that you have done what I asked, I can't support it.”
Miller and board members Dave Alessio and John Stanton voted no on the layoffs.
More than 1,200 people crammed into the gymnasium at Westfield Community School in Algonquin, with overflow crowds in an adjoining gym and the cafeteria. About 80 people addressed the board and were limited to 60 seconds each, which prompted boos and jeers from many in the audience.
Viviana Medrano, 15 and a sophomore at Dundee-Crown, fought through tears to tell the board how her teachers made a difference in her life.
“They teach us life lessons,” she said. “They taught me that you don't need to have money to go to college. You don't have to be the smartest person. You can still go to college.”
The vote came a day after Superintendent-elect Michael Bregy presented three plans to the board and an audience of more than 600 people. The second option would have reorganized the middle school only, and the third option would have made no changes.
The district is attempting to trim $8.3 million from its budget.
Earlier this month, the district trimmed $3.1 million in staff members and programs and is now hoping for wage and benefit concessions of $5.2 million from the teachers union. The layoff plan would be implemented if the teachers union fails to meet the $5.2 million in wage and benefit concessions that the district has requested.