Woodland District 50 to cut 16 teachers

Sixteen classroom teaching jobs were eliminated Thursday night at Woodland Elementary District 50 in Gurnee in an effort to shrink a $3.5 million budget deficit projected for the 2010-11 academic year.

In addition to trimming some teachers and other employees, District 50 board members agreed to increase student registration fees and lunch prices.

District 50 officials said expectations that the state will reduce school funding means the work has just started to keep the district from sinking financially.

"We're going to continue to look at reductions and ways to save money in this district," Woodland board President Lawrence Gregorash.

By cutting the 16 classroom instructors, Woodland projects it'll save $723,094 in the 2010-11 school year. Officials said a restructuring that will include higher class sizes in grades four through eight resulted in the need for 16 fewer teachers.

Gregorash was the only one of seven board members to vote against the teacher cuts. He said he could not vote yes "in good conscience" because of his experience as a classroom teacher.

Some jobs on the chopping block were saved. For example, board members voted 4-3 against cutting six resource paraprofessions that would have saved $177,598.

Woodland assembled a 62-member volunteer financial advisory community task force that made recommendations on the cuts and fees. The advisory group's suggestions totaled about $4 million, but the elected officials' action Thursday night filled most of the projected $3.5 million budget gap.

Like other suburban school systems, District 50's financial pinch has been blamed on a consumer price index, or inflation rate, that's lower than what officials have typically expected. CPI is what schools use to get cash from a property tax levy each year.

Since 1991, Illinois law has limited many governments to increase property taxes at the rate of inflation or 5 percent, whichever is lower. Federal officials announced last month the 2009 consumer price index was 2.7.

Citing projected revenue declines, District 50's administrators and managers agreed to have their salaries frozen for the current school year.

Teachers are to receive a base 0.54 percent raise for the next academic year. They also are eligible for pay hikes that reward longevity in the two-year contract that expires after the 2010-11 season.

District 50 serves all of Gages Lake and Wildwood and parts of Gurnee, Grayslake, Park City, Third Lake, Old Mill Creek, Wadsworth, Lake Villa, Waukegan and Libertyville. The district's budget is expected to be in the $84 million range for the next school year.

Cuts: Administrators freeze their salaries