Antioch's team teaching idea to change

A group of seventh-graders at Antioch Upper Grade School will be split from their teachers and classmates next year after officials decided to cut two teacher positions.

The cuts, approved Tuesday by the Antioch Elementary District 34 school board, affect the school's Blue Team of about 150 students taught by the same five teachers all three years of middle school.

The Blue Team was created in the 2005-06 school year. It is made up of two sections each of sixth, seventh and eight grade classes.

Beginning next school year, the Blue Team will consist of one section of sixth grade and two sections of seventh grade. The change means seventh graders now on the Blue Team will no longer be part of the project.

"Nothing is going to be the same for me," an emotional Justine Gentzen, 13, said after the school board's decision. "When you are with the same teachers all three years they know your strengths. They know you."

District 34 has been grappling with staffing for the 2008-09 school year since February. At that time, Superintendent Scott Thompson said the district's total enrollment will fall by 20 students next year and its sixth-grade class would be smaller by 36 students.

Thompson said the Blue Team was created to absorb future growth at the upper grade school that didn't occur. He said it would be fiscally irresponsible to keep it in place as is.

Several options were discussed and a committee of administrators and teachers was formed to determine how the district could eliminate two teaching positions at the school and add a reading specialist.

On Tuesday, the school board voted 4-2 to cut the Blue Team by two teachers, despite objection from dozens of parents and students.

"Any plan that calls for an elimination of teachers is difficult," said Antioch Upper Grade School Principal Jim Kallieris.

"What we offered is a short-term solution to an enrollment issue. I still think the Blue Team is a fantastic idea and the right fit for many students."