Glenview Public School District 34 officials are proposing to balance the budget for the coming school year through measures that include staff cuts, class size increases and cutbacks in the fine arts program.
About 50 staff positions could be impacted under the proposal officials say would save the district $3.2 million.
View the strategic budgeting scenario posted on District 34′s website.
Administrators revealed the proposal to the Board of Education Monday. It’s the third step in a five-stage process officials have called “strategic budgeting” — an effort to balance the district’s budget and stave off ongoing deficit spending in coming years.
Teachers, parents and others packed the gym at Westbrook School to hear the proposal and some were surprised at the depth of the proposed cuts.
“It seems premature and extreme to over-balance the budget in one year,” said Merle Shein, a second grade teacher at Westbrook.
The proposed cuts that drew considerable reaction from the audience was the elimination of eight learning resource — or library — director positions, eight technology facilitator positions and four instructional coach positions.
In return, the district would add 12 learning coaches, who Assistant Superintendent Mike Nicholson said would help integrate technology, literature and some of the other areas of expertise of the former positions into the classroom. One additional person would serve as a district-wide learning resource coordinator.
The move would save $385,000, officials said.
Some current learning resource directors objected to the proposal and tried to explain their roles in the district, saying that good libraries lead to good student performance.
“Are the cuts worth the proposed savings?” said Rachel Davidson, library resource director at Henking School.
Linda Diekman, library resource director at Glen Grove School, said she was “alarmed” that officials would recognize her on Jan. 12 for receiving National Board certification and now consider eliminating her position.
Nicholson and other officials stressed the preliminary nature of the proposals and pointed out the collaboration that went into Monday’s report.
Administrators said they considered the reports of the Budget Alignment and Citizens Finance advisory committees, which identified the amount of change each budget area could withstand and how much money was needed to balance the budget.
Other proposed cuts include reducing third- through fifth-grade drama instruction from 1 hour to 30 minutes a week to save $88,000 and increasing “flexible” class size caps by one student to save $748,000.
The latter measure would allow for more flexibility when it comes to staffing, Nicholson said. Currently, once class size reaches a certain number, a new teacher is hired and a new section of that class is created. Extending the cap could help reduce the number of new sections and teachers the district needs, Nicholson said.
District spokesman Brett Clark said this could result in some overall class size increases. The Administration’s report shows that 22 percent of class sections would be above the class size target by one student if the new cap is implemented.
The district also could balance the budget in part by increasing buss fees by 50 percent, reducing the number of educational associate positions by 25 percent, and eliminating school resource police officers, according to the report.
“I know this is difficult, but I appreciate the fact that we are doing it,” said Board of Education President Chris Northwick. “We are being forced to by a lot of external forces, and we really can’t ignore them.”
Overall, the cuts could impact about 50 jobs of both certified and non-certified workers if approved, although 50 employees would not necessarily be laid off, Clark said.
Some employees, such as the learning resource directors, would have the option of applying for new positions the district would create, he said. Tenured employees would be reassigned to other jobs if their positions were eliminated, he added.
Clarked declined to say how many total jobs could be lost.
All the proposed cuts would take effect next school year if approved, officials said. In its report, the Citizens Finance Committee outlined ways the budget could be balanced in one year or over four years.
Administrators did not include a multi-year strategy in their proposal. Clark said the board could ultimately decide it prefers a multi-year approach. But, he noted, the district would have to cut more to balance the budget over several years that it would have to in one year.
Nicholson said administrators attempted to strike a balance between that committee’s “likely” scenario, which would require $2.55 million in cuts in one year, and its “worst case” scenario, which would require $3.79 million in cuts.
The administration’s report also included a second list of deeper cuts that could be substituted for measures on the main list or implemented if officials decide they want to cut more.
“These do get closer to the bone, so to speak,” Nicholson said. “All of these are hard, but these (on the second list) seem quite a bit harder.”
The second list includes increasing the “flexible” class cap by three students instead of one and reducing physical education by 50 percent. It also includes reducing the number of speech and language pathologist positions in kindergarten through fifth grade and the number of special education resource teachers in kindergarten through eight grade.
Officials have scheduled several community input sessions this month to give district residents and staff members additional opportunities to comment and offer suggestions for balancing the budget. Administrators would share the feedback Feb. 27 and make a final recommendation in March.
Comments also can be submitted on the district’s website.
“Now, it’s everyone else’s turn to participate,” Northwick said.
