Kaneland district talking less staff, bigger class sizes
Larger class sizes may be in store for Kaneland students under budget cuts proposed by the school district staff Monday night.
District 302 expects that to have a balanced operational budget in 2012-13, it will have to spend $1.1 million less than it would if it made no changes from this year.
“This has quickly become one of my least favorite nights at the board of education,” Superintendent Jeff Schuler said. “There is no good way to talk about cost reductions.”
It is the fourth year in a row the district has made cuts. This fiscal year, it anticipates spending $47.78 million on operating expenses, which includes salaries, transportation, supplies and maintenance.
The district proposes to cut the equivalent of 14.92 full-time certified workers, including two at the elementary level, five in the middle school and six at the high school.
The moves would raise classroom section sizes by three students in grades three through eight and in the high school core-curriculum classes. Kindergarten through second-grade class sizes would remain the same.
Board member Teresa Witt was dismayed to see the library assistant for the high school cut. That would leave the library with only its director, which could mean the library would be closed when the director is in a planning session or taking lunch.
“We are trying to shift to a college-readiness focus. Having a library at the high school level that is actually closed sends the wrong message,” Witt said.
The administrators are proposing more than $431,776 in cuts in the administrative, transportation and maintenance budgets. They include replacing only one school bus a year instead of two and hiring fewer summertime maintenance workers.
The proposed cuts will be the subject of a community forum at 7 p.m. Feb. 23 at Harter Middle School in Sugar Grove. People can also make comments at the district’s website, kaneland.org. The website will also have a podcast by Schuler explaining the proposal and a copy of Monday’s PowerPoint presentation.
The board will take comment on them at its Feb. 27 meeting and is scheduled to vote on them March 12. By the end of March, the district will have to notify any tenured certified staff members it intends to lay off.