After Cutting Teacher and Aide Positions, D122 Examining Reassignments

The New Lenox School District 122 announced a $2.5 million budget reduction plan earlier this week, and about half of that money will come from eliminating positions.

To cut into a $3.2 million budget deficit that the district is cautiously projecting, the Board of Education reviewed proposals over the last week and on Tuesday voted to approve cuts and savings, including nearly $1.3 million tied to personnel or services. The district is eliminating 24 positions, but some of the people in those jobs will be reassigned elsewhere in the district.

“We wanted to keep cuts as far away from students in the regular classroom as possible," Superintendent Mike Sass said.

Cuts Based on Need

The biggest cuts come through cutting six special education teachers and six aides, with estimated savings from those positions being $540,000. The district reviewed the caseload associated with each special education student's indivual education plan and determined that equal services could be offered more efficiently. Sass said students requiring aides will still get them, and that they wouldn't lose any time with special education teachers.

“We’re only providing what we need," Sass said. "Those are cuts solely based upon the needs of the kids. Any student that’s going to need specialized support will get it."

Four junior high positions will also be eliminated, saving about $240,000. The district is restructuring its cycle and elective programs to a trimester schedule, and because of changes associated with that, administrators feel that four certified teaching positions will no longer be necessary.

This doesn't necessarily mean these teachers will be fired; they could be reassigned to other jobs. The cycle will drop health and computer classes from seventh grade. Communication, information literacy and art will be taught in seventh grade and health, life skills and music will be taught in eighth grade.

More Debate Needed By Board

Also at the junior high level, two counselors (one from Martino and one from Liberty) will be eliminated but reassigned elsewhere. The reasoning the district gives for this is that there is an assistant principal and social worker in each junior high, as well as a psychologist who splits time between the two buildings. If the principals at these schools saw a greater need for mental health guidance, though, Sass said the district is more than willing to fill these positions again.

“We believe that’s going to provide adequate mental health services,” Sass said of the other available resources at the schools. "We're all cognizent of how important support is for adolescent kids."

After meeting in closed session Tuesday to discuss specific personnel cuts, the board talked openly with the public to further debate two positions and the junior high counselors were one spot. The cuts passed, though, with a 6-1 vote with member Sue Smith dissenting.

Another issue the board wanted to talk about more was whether to cut three librarians. The board voted 5-2 in favor of this cut, with members Smith and Pat Martino dissenting.

"This is one I feel is impacting the kids that I don’t want to see gone,” Martino said. “I believe the LRC staff show more of a benefit than the dollar amount.”

This will eliminate three librarian positions, but Sass said all three will be reassigned. There will now be one librarian per campus who will have the responsibility of two schools. This plan was piloted at the Spencer campus this year and Sass said it's worked well. A library aide also splits time between two buildings on a campus, but each school will maintain its own technology clerk.

Finally, some administrative cuts and operational changes were made to save money, but much smaller amounts than the other cuts. One assistant principal will be eliminated, saving $60,000, and an administrative office secretary is retiring and the job won't be filled, which will save $20,000. The district will also save some money by reducing summer work hours for social workers, psychologists, custodians and library staff.

Some parents have complained that the administration should take larger cuts, but Sass said consolidating services to make them more efficient was the best option right now.

"Our district is always looking at our administrative positions," he said. "However, right now this was the best plan we saw for the community.”

Next Step: Reassignment

So if the people in these positions are reassigned, who will actually lose their job? That's the district's next task.

Sass estimated that there are five positions the district might not be able to reassign people for. But it’s difficult to tell right now who could be reassigned, he said, because between now and when final decisions are made, someone could take a maternity leave, announce retirement or do something else that would open another position.

Assistant Superintendent Peggy Manville will now meet with each school’s principal to talk about the number of tenured teachers who could be fired, the number of non-tenured teachers and whether to renew their contracts, the number of teachers who have requested leave or will return from leave and who plans to retire.

Once the number of each of these positions is determined and Manville does the math, the district will see where people could be reassigned if their position was eliminated. By the March board meeting, the cuts or reassignments should be made official.

"We’re doing the best we can with the resources we have," Board President Kathy Markus said at the meeting Tuesday night. "We worry about the children first."