Dist. 300 closer to massive layoffs, cuts
A plan to reorganize middle and high schools in Community Unit District 300 narrowly moved from the discussion phase, with the board voting 4-3 to take action on the proposal.
The district will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Westfield Community School, 2100 Sleepy Hollow Road.
After the public hearing, the board will vote on implementing a plan that will layoff 363 teachers in order to save $5 million and restructure scheduling at the middle and high school levels.
More than 600 people attended the meeting to hear Superintendent-elect Michael Bregy present three options.
The first option, and the one the board will vote on, reorganizes the secondary grades, option two reorganized the middle school only and the third option made no changes.
Bregy said the aim is to maintain the quality programs that the district has while remaining fiscally responsible.
“We have to look at the classes we have and the teachers that we have and examine all possibilities,” Bregy said. “That is being in the position to offer what we have now and then work backward in regard to what reductions need to be made in order to have a balanced budget.”
The plan calls for the elimination of all teachers with between one and seven years of experience, except for those in the areas such as bilingual, speech language and special education.
Because the district is a unit district, Bregy said many teachers possess the certification to teach at multiple disciplines and multiple subject areas.
The district must extend a reduction in force to the year seven level so that the district can recall the teachers with the proper certification based on the reorganization model.
If approved, the changes would go into effect in the 2011-2012 school year.
But some board members said they could not support the layoffs and doubted the changes could be implemented in such a short time frame.
“Let's face it, you would have to put a cape on to meet the time frame,” board members Chris Stanton said.
Stanton added that the plan placed added pressure on the new administration and could disrupt students' education.
“I would hate for us to somehow fail as a district by not getting done in time,” Stanton said. “Or let the juniors and seniors that are on the right track sit in limbo. We are running out of time to initialize summer school programs, and students graduating aren't going to come back for summer school before they go to college.”
More than a dozen people addressed the board during public comment Tuesday, most asking the board not to make the cuts and find other areas for reductions.