Burlington Dist. 301 to see cuts in programs?

Burlington-area schools have not been buffeted quite as hard by the ill economic winds that have spelled severe layoffs and program cutbacks for many suburban school districts.

But that could change if the situation in the state, which is facing a deficit equal to half its annual expenses, does not improve, officials in Central Community Unit District 301 said Tuesday.

“Next year … we may have to make some program reductions,” said Greg Rabenhorst, assistant superintendent.

District 301 officials were able to avoid program cuts this year while trimming expenses by $1 million, a sum that included some staff reductions at Central High School and the district's two middle schools, officials said.

Rabenhorst's remarks came at District 301's annual state of the District night at Central High School. The district updated about 30 parents on academic achievement, the district's financial health and efforts to keep up with the latest classroom technology.

Administrators said that as the district deals with more than $1.4 million in delayed payments from the state, it must also work to increase math scores and close standardized testing gaps.

As District 301 has grown it has become much more diverse, with the portion of minority students rising from 12 percent in 2006 to 25 percent in 2010, according to district data.

That sharp increase is exposing gaps between the test scores of white and minority students particularly Hispanics. Hispanic students are 14 to 16 percentage points behind their white peers in both reading and math, according to the latest testing data presented Tuesday.

Superintendent Todd Stirn said the district has programs in place to address the achievement gap but that it is an area of continuing concern.

“Their math scores shouldn't be related to a language issue,” Stirn said.

The latest data from the district show that District 301 students as a whole are lagging behind, with only 28 percent meeting college readiness standards in all four subjects tested on the ACT, an exam taken junior year.

District leaders said that number is concerning especially in math.

Director of Curriculum and Assessment Esther Martin said the district is moving toward a more rigorous math curriculum that aims to have eighth-graders take algebra and continue math through four years of high school.

“It's extremely important that we have students taking four years of math,” Martin said. “The minimum a child should take if he wants to get to college is (pre-Calculus).”