Lake Zurich schools eyeing deep cuts to staff, programs
Lake Zurich Unit School District 95 administrators have presented the school board with a sobering list of recommended cuts for next year's budget - one that calls for eliminating all nontenured teachers and some athletic and fine arts programs.
The proposal, given to board members Thursday night in front of a capacity audience, also calls for cutting some guidance counselors, many coaches and increasing some class sizes and student fees.
The proposed cuts are a result of an expected $4 million shortfall in property taxes, anticipated by the drop of the consumer price index from 4.1 percent to 0.1 percent, which controls the increase of the property tax levy the district can request.
The $4 million represents about 5 percent of the total budget, said Assistant Superintendent Mary Kalou.
The school board will continue to look at the list of cuts and will adopt a tentative budget at the end of June, Board President Kathy Brown said. The final budget will not be set until Sept. 24.
Lake Zurich High School faces the most cuts of all District 95 schools, totaling $1.04 million. As proposed, the high school would lose a guidance counselor, the school resource officer, varsity golf and bowling, junior varsity cheerleading and one of three theater productions.
The school newspaper would be online only; the weight room would either close or carry a $35 per season fee; the Scholastic Bowl and Math teams would each lose a coach; and the National Honor Society, Drama Club, Speech and Debate team and the literary magazine would all lose a stipend.
Many teachers, students and parents were at the meeting, which was moved into a gymnasium in anticipation of high attendance. For one hour - double the usual maximum allotted time for public comment on one topic - 11 people voiced concern about the cuts, many of them worried particularly about the fate of fine arts programs.
Jeff Johnson, a senior at Lake Zurich High School who says he'll go on to study lighting design after graduation thanks to his exposure to theater in high school, urged support for the fine arts programs and was disappointed to learn the fourth and fifth grade orchestra and band programs would be cut.
Adam Hjerpe, general music teacher at Sarah Adams and Charles Quentin elementary schools, said that loss will trickle all the way up.
"When those children hit the middle school level, they will not have had as great exposure to those instruments," Hjerpe said. "That music program will have to start from scratch."
Superintendent Brian Knutson said the administration focused on maintaining a comprehensive educational and instructional program before announcing the recommended cuts.
He said some of the nontenured staff will be asked back after student registration is complete and teachers from Charles Quentin School, which closes at the end of this school year, are relocated to other schools. A teacher must have four years of continuous full-time employment to be tenured in Illinois.
District 95 also is expecting $500,000 this fall from the village of Lake Zurich from a tax increment financing district. District 95, however, did not include that money as anticipated revenue, saying it is not confident it will come.
If it does, Kalou said, they could retain 10 more teachers.
Lake Zurich Village President John Tolomei said Friday the village fully intends to pay the district on time this fall. The village completed a bond financing plan that allows them to make these payments from TIF funds, he said.
Meanwhile, some residents urged more study.
Abby Gage spoke on behalf of 25 parents, proposing that the board form a committee of administrators, board members, teachers, parents and community members to examine the necessary budget cuts.
"Because this issue is so important to all taxpayers in the district, we believe it is so crucial that this process have significant community involvement and input," Gage said.