Dist. 25 hears bad news, approves faculty layoffs

The loss of state funding could range from $500,000 to more than $2 million during the next school year, the board of Arlington Heights Elementary District 25 heard Thursday night.

Stacey Mallek, assistant superintendent for business, said Gov. Pat Quinn's proposals this week would cost the district about $1 million in surprising areas like special education, transportation and bilingual education.

Before the governor's budget address Mallek had expected the elimination of general state aid programs, which would cost the district $1.9 million. Other grants she had expected to be removed would have totaled about $206,000. The district's operating budget this year is about $55 million.

In other business, the board approved staff cuts and changes for next fall's school year that would reduce the budget by $464,000.

Staff members will receive notices that they will not be hired or their hours will be cut next year, but traditionally all except the few dismissed for performance issues are rehired, said Renne Zoladz, assistant superintendent of personnel and planning.

However, she noted this year is different because only one teacher has retired, and that notice came after the cuts were figured. Many staff members are younger, and the state of the economy has made people leery of retiring, she said.

Many of the dismissal notices are based on estimates of how many students will be in certain programs next year, and others are because their salaries are paid by grants.

Policy changes that led to position cuts include reducing music and physical education in half-day kindergarten to one session a week. That brings them in line with full-day classes that experience these subjects two days a week, she said.

Fewer students need to leave their classrooms for English Language Learning instruction, she said leading to the cut of three-quarters time of a teacher's position and the addition of 1.5 teaching assistants for help with ELL students in regular classrooms.

The number of students qualifying for gifted services has dropped slightly, also requiring the reduction of part of a position. Due to block grant funding, 1.5 literacy teaching positions and almost six teaching assistant positions were cut.

Layoffs include eight full-time teachers; five part-time teachers; 40 teaching assistants and one licensed practical nurse. In addition, two full-time teachers were reduced to part time and several part-time teachers lost hours.