District 203 school board rejects plan to lay off 38 teachers

Days after teachers were notified of pending staff reductions, Naperville Unit District 203 school board members voted to reject the plan to lay off 38 educators.

The decision came after hours of public comment from students, parents and teachers at Monday’s board meeting. Dozens offered support for educators who received an honorable dismissal notice last week and asked the board to reconsider the layoffs.

“This does not have to be all or nothing,” Naperville 203 parent Julianne Fox said to board members. “See if a longer-term plan can get us to where we need to be without all the immediate sacrifices.”

Fox and others spoke of the contributions teachers make to the district and students. Several students held signs showing support for teachers notified of honorable dismissal last week.

“Teachers are not just another line item on the budget,” Naperville Central High School senior Gavin George said. “They’re the foundation to everything our schools do.”

The staffing cuts were part of a plan to close a projected $12.4 million budget shortfall. The teachers who would have been laid off represented about $2.7 million in budget savings.

Other reductions, including salaries saved through natural attrition such as retirements or resignations and non-personnel cuts, total more than $8 million, officials said at Monday’s meeting.

“I know that we gave you one directive,” school board member Amanda McMillen said, referring to a direction from the board to staff to eliminate as much of the shortfall in one year as possible. “But if we’re able to slow down the deficit through these things and not pass the RIF tonight … I’m in favor of not approving the RIF tonight.”

Rejecting the reduction in force, or RIF, gives the district another year to figure out how to address future projected deficit spending.

District officials will present a budget proposal, with numbers showing the savings realized from spending cuts and attrition, in May. A final vote on the budget is expected in June.

“The board spent last night listening, truly listening, to our community,” District 203 Superintendent Dan Bridges said in a statement Tuesday. “Our community emphasized what we know: our teachers matter deeply to our students and families. They are at the heart of what makes Naperville 203 strong, and we want to preserve that stability in our classrooms.”

While union officials worked with the district to identify which teachers would be cut, based on state standards, Naperville Unit Education Association President Ross Berkley said the “chaos” of last week’s reduction-in-force notifications could have been avoided.

“It’s a shame we had to put people’s names in writing and create chaos in people’s lives,” Berkley said. “You can’t undo that.

“But at the end of the day, jobs were saved,” he added, “and we’re thankful for that.”

He reiterated the union’s stance, objecting to a district policy that prohibits the board from drawing down on reserve funds to cover operational expenses. Under that policy, reserve funds can only be used for one-time expenses, such as building improvements.