Mundelein schools ready for next step

Mundelein Elementary District 75 is poised to begin planning for life next year without Lincoln School.

Two key moves, naming Lincoln Principal Kathleen Miller to the same post at Mechanics Grove school and elevating Mechanics Grove Principal Dana Smith to director of educational support services, set the stage for more detailed staffing plans and other decisions.

“We decided where the students will go, now we’re deciding where the teachers will go,” Superintendent Cynthia Heidorn said. “Everybody understands that life changed but the expectation of what we want to do for our children has not changed.”

Lincoln serves second through fifth grade students but will be closed next year to save money, leaving three schools for K through eighth grade students.

The decision was among several made recently by the school board to cut a budget deficit.

Other actions approved Monday included the reduction of the equivalent of about 12 staff positions — one administrative, about four teacher and seven educational support positions, including secretaries and a school nurse.

The most recent reductions will save about $535,000 in salaries and benefits. Another $165,000 will be saved in operations and other costs as a result of the Lincoln closing.

Last spring, District 75 made $860,000 in budget cuts and reduced the number of positions by 44 for this school year. The board considered options to address falling enrollment and a projected $500,000 deficit by the 2012-13 school year.

The moves will eliminate the budget gap, although the district receives 25 percent of its revenue from the state, which is $697,000 behind in payments.

“With that kind of cash flow it’s kind of hard to predict,” Heidorn said of next year’s finances.

Both Miller and Smith were hired for the 2007-08 school year, said Heidorn, who recommended their selection. Miller will oversee the transition at Mechanics Grove to a learning center for third through fifth graders.

“I think it will be good for the whole community to have her as the leader of the school,” said Mundelein resident Tammy Thier, one of the few parents attending Monday’s school board meeting.

She has two kids at Lincoln who will move to Mechanics Grove.

“It is what it is and we have to move forward,” she said. “It’s going to work.”

With the district’s curriculum director retiring after this year, Smith will assume a hybrid role. He will oversee curriculum revisions in advance of new state testing standards and coordinate development of technology initiatives, among other duties.

With the leadership in place, the district will get to the details of the change. Heidorn was scheduled to discuss the matter Wednesday with the district’s parent teacher group.

Each school will have a transition team to plan for everything including how families, students and staff will be welcomed in an attempt to make the changes more comfortable.

“We’re looking forward to involving people in the planning part,” Heidorn said.