Barrington schools cutting a dozen positions, weighing layoffs

Barrington Unit District 220 plans to drop the equivalent of 13 full-time jobs next school year to balance its books.

School officials hope attrition from staff members retiring or moving onto other districts will help reach the total of 13, but they haven't ruled out layoffs.

In reaching their decision late Tuesday, the board described the move as a last resort after other operational cost-saving measures have already been taken.

They added any changes affecting students' classroom experience would be the absolutely final measure they'll consider.

That said, the board felt the dropped positions were likely to be divided among all areas of the district's employee pool, from support staff to administrators to teachers.

Decisions will have to be made quickly, as employees must be notified at least 45 days before the end of the school year if their positions are to be discontinued. That makes the next school board meeting on April 7 the last one at which such decisions can be approved.

However, all staff expected to be affected by layoffs will be notified before April 7, Superintendent Tom Leonard said.

While sensitive to the fact that their pending actions are harmful to staff members' lives and unfortunate for the district as a whole, board members said the district's financial reserves are helping it weather the economic storm better than such other nearby districts as Lake Zurich Unit District 95, Elgin Area School District U-46 and Community Unit District 300.

Board member Penny Kazmier described the discussions as the most distressing of her time on the board. But she said she's comfortable that the district's approach to "dismantling the ship" has been considerate and conservative.

"We're trimming branches, not cutting down trees," she said.

Fellow board members agreed.

"I think we can get through this without any serious deterioration of our program," Tim Hull said.

"I'd rather see us make the tough decisions than get behind the eight ball," Cara Richardson added.

Unlike other districts that are dropping programs entirely, District 220's reserves, built up over the past five years, are helping avoid that, Leonard said. He felt the district would have been more harmed if the current economy had struck eight years ago while the schools were trying to catch up on costly deferred maintenance.

"We are very fortunate in a difficult time to have some of the variables going our way," Leonard said.

Officials said many area districts are being hurt by how the rate of inflation is affecting tax revenues, as a district's ability to raise revenues is tied to inflation under the tax cap.

And while avoiding layoffs in the classroom is preferred, the district can't decide to stop running buses or paying its energy bills, Leonard said.