'Jittery' Elmhurst D-205 Board OKs Staffing Hike

ELMHURST, IL – The Elmhurst School District 205 board this week approved adding two employees to the district's technology department.

Currently, the department has 15 full-time positions. With the latest action, that number is set to increase by two next school year.

"Whenever we approve a staffing (increase), it's an ongoing expense versus a one-time expense," board President Kara Caforio said, "so we tend to get a little jittery as you know."

However, she said the technology department is important for learning. When problems with technology occur, she said, that's lost instruction time for students.

The board's decision was based on recommendations from Rudy Gomez, who started last year as the district's executive director of technology.

According to Gomez's memo, the technology staff has remained flat while the district's number of devices increased by nearly 300 percent over a dozen years.

In 2009, the district owned 3,100 devices, compared with more than 12,000 in 2021, the memo said.

Gomez's memo spelled out the duties of the two new employees. He also proposed an additional employee in the 2023-24 school year.

Board member Courtenae Trautmann said her first concern was the spending of more money. But she said she appreciated the details of Gomez's proposal.

"We've seen requests for enhanced personnel in this department over the years with no clear focus on what those positions were going to do. And we also saw those requests paired with a department that really didn't have clear direction," Trautmann said.

By contrast, she said, Gomez evaluated his department and made sure all of its employees were working to their full potential.

Trautmann said Gomez's proposal gave her confidence that the staff increase was the right plan.

The board voted unanimously for the proposal. Member Jim Collins was absent.

The district serves more than 8,000 students.