29 jobs cut at Grayslake elementary schools

Declining tax revenue caused by the recession was cited as the main reason for eliminating 29 positions at Grayslake Elementary District 46 for the 2009-10 academic year.

About 100 spectators - including parents and district employees - were at Meadowview School's library in Grayslake Monday night when board members approved staffing cuts recommended by Superintendent Ellen Correll.

Board members voted 6-1 in favor of the staffing reductions, with Mark Hannan as the lone dissenter.

District 46 officials have taken a number of measures to plug a budget deficit of at least $2.3 million for next school year. The staff reductions were part of an overall budget-reduction package tentatively pegged at $2.8 million.

"This decision is not anything any of us take lightly," Correll told the crowd.

Among the 29 full- and part-time positions eliminated were general and special education teachers, clerical staffers, a psychologist and program assistants.

District 46 officials said a flat inflation rate and a lack of construction in the Grayslake area means not as much tax revenue will be collected for the 2009-10 academic year, necessitating the budget cuts.

Some parents and District 46 employees who spoke at Monday night's meeting implored the board to reconsider the clerical cuts. They said front-office staffers at District 46 buildings help students in a variety of ways and are the first line of security.

Resident Shawn Carney asked board members if they have looked enough at District 46's projected financial picture, perhaps up to five years out.

"Are these enough cuts?" Carney asked. "Are these cuts going to last long enough?"

Beyond reducing the number of employees, District 46 has pursued other belt-tightening ideas. They include spreading out life-safety work over three years to conserve $500,000 and enacting 15 percent reductions in school building budgets, saving $52,367.

Room temperatures already have been lowered to 70 degrees in an effort to save cash, district officials said. There also is a freeze on color printing, a reduction in custodial overtime and cuts in the number of District 46-owned wireless telephones.

Other cost-cutting moves now in place include having an outside janitorial service clean buildings three nights instead of five and shutting off computer laboratory power at 4 p.m. daily unless a building principal orders it to stay on.

Cut: Special ed teachers among positions cut