05-31-2010, 03:29 PM
Here is a partial list of proposed cuts:
Proposed Budget Cuts - Waukegan School District 60
A.Elimination of 1 Special Education Co-ord. for a reduction of $105,356.00.
B.Elimination of 4 office workers (the 4 with least seniority) for a Reduction of $158,000.00.
C.Downgrade Director position to Mgr. ($35,000.00 reduction)
D.Eliminate 3 Social Workers & 1 Speech Pathologist for a reduction of $293,488.00.
E.Eliminate Opening Day Ceremony at Genesee for a reduction of $13,794.00.
F.Reduction of the # of Academic Chairs @ WHS at reduction of $250,000.00.
G.Eliminate Asst. Director of H.R. @ a reduction of $90,000.00.
H.Eliminate 3 certified Library Media Specialists (certified librarians) @ WHS campuses. One certified librarian to oversee both schools with 1 full time aide @ each campus. Three positions eliminated at a reduction of $150,000.00.
I. Eliminate 6 Drivers Ed. Positions (teachers) Attendance records tracking unexcused absences will be used to determine which students will be eligible to take drivers ed. and which are not. Based on current patterns the belief is that a significant # of students will not meet the attendance requirements and therefore justify reducing the # of eligible students. Six Teachers eliminated @ a reduction of $300,000.00.
J. Reorganizing Business Ed Program @ WHS. Some courses including Keyboarding will no longer be offered. Six teacher positions eliminated. Consumer Education and Economics will remain. Six teachers eliminated @ a reduction of $300,000.00
K. Low enrollment courses will be eliminated; at this time they are looking at Electives that are not meeting a 22 student minimum enrollment. (12 teachers to be eliminated) SOME of the courses targeted are: Art Design 3, Photo, Intro to Wood Working, Womenâs Choir, Wood 3, Art Appreciation, Art 3. Music Theory, Machine Drafting, some vocational classes. 3 classes at the tech campus, and more. Six Teachers will be eliminated for a reduction of $300,000.00.
L. Elimination of 12 para professionals in various programs (those with the least seniority) for a decrease of $240.000.00.
M. Reduction in periods at both WHS campuses. College Study Program would drop to 8 periods from 9. Other programs would drop from 8 to 7. Dr. Hamlin spoke about âgravitating to the normâ in relationship to comparing the # of periods offered by other district to WHS current school schedules. (No specific data was presented to support his statement) He also stated that âthis will take away the margin of PLANNED FAILUREâ stating his belief that having so many periods available to some studentâs causes them to believe that itâs no big deal if they fail a class because their current schedule allows them time to repeat the class again in a future semester. Hamlinâs opinion is that reducing the time frame will force students to take greater personal accountability and to be more serious about the working within the tighter time frame allotted to complete graduation requirements. Hamlin admitted however that the graduation rate could be impacted. (????)
Also the College Studies Program will drop its current mandatory requirement that participants in the program must take as Freshmen Humanities and as Sophomores Critical Thinking. Students could take these as electives but they would cease to be part of CSPâs core curriculum. There would be no critical changes in the English Language Learners Program (ELL) @ WHS.
Combined these changes would result in 30 positions eliminated (teachers) at WHS for a reduction of $1,5000,000.00.
N. Elimination of 6 nurses (the 6 with least seniority). Reduction would be $416,085.00. Six new âHealth Aidesâ would be hired to offset the reduction of certified nurses @ a cost of $150,000.00. No job description was available, but it was stated that they would likely report to the Director of Nurses. Certified nursing staff will be reallocated to buildings with the most signifgant needs and health aides would be placed in âless needyâ buildings.
O. Elimination of Behavior Intervention Facilitator : a reduction of $81,684.00.
P. Eliminations of Special Ed. support staff (12 positions) @ a reduction of $852,390.00. Response to Intervention math materials that have been requested to cost $159.404.00.
Q. Elimination of 5 Curriculum Support Specialists (They assist & support teachers) Reduction:
$426,754.00 Adding 3 more school psychologists at a cost of $250,000.00
R. Reduction of Level B (freshmen) sports eliminating $55, 000.00. Adding 3 more school psychology interns. @ A cost of $45,000.00
S. Reduction of Legal Services â eliminating $200,00.00
Total cut: $5,767,520.00
New Expenditures: -$604,494.00
Eliminated $5,163,127.00
The following are my notes from the Board Meeting on Monday, May 24th. Mr, Gaudin announced at the beginning that these are âmostâ of the proposed reductions that there will likely be more. At the end of the meeting an audience member asked about the rest of the cuts and he responded that he was not at liberty to discuss the matter due to contract negotiations. Mr, Gaudin also stated that the letters had been prepared to call back 3rd and 4th year non-tenured teachers that had previously received Reduction In Force notices, An audience member (who was one of those teachers) asked him if they would receive the letters before the end of the school year and Gaudin indicated he believed they would.
It was the recommendation of the administration that the Board approve these reductions at the Board Meeting the following evening, but several board members indicated they would need more time than that to evaluate the proposal.
The Board has a Special Meeting set on Tuesday, June 1st in the Board Room at Lincoln Ctr. @ 6:30 p.m.
There is an opportunity for Public comment prior to the vote.
Compiled by Jane Vester, C.O.S.L.A. on 5/24/10
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please pay special attention as to how the High School bears the brunt of the lion's share of these cuts. It is simply wrong to balance the budget on the backs of the students and teachers in this district, who already contend with limited resources and a bare-bones curriculum. Where are the administrative cuts? What are they giving up? Precious little, if you ask me. Let your voice be heard and hold our school board members accountable for their decisions. Plan on attending the meeting and signing-in to speak, and call them in advance with your opinion if you cannot attend. Now is not a time for silence and complacency.
Proposed Budget Cuts - Waukegan School District 60
A.Elimination of 1 Special Education Co-ord. for a reduction of $105,356.00.
B.Elimination of 4 office workers (the 4 with least seniority) for a Reduction of $158,000.00.
C.Downgrade Director position to Mgr. ($35,000.00 reduction)
D.Eliminate 3 Social Workers & 1 Speech Pathologist for a reduction of $293,488.00.
E.Eliminate Opening Day Ceremony at Genesee for a reduction of $13,794.00.
F.Reduction of the # of Academic Chairs @ WHS at reduction of $250,000.00.
G.Eliminate Asst. Director of H.R. @ a reduction of $90,000.00.
H.Eliminate 3 certified Library Media Specialists (certified librarians) @ WHS campuses. One certified librarian to oversee both schools with 1 full time aide @ each campus. Three positions eliminated at a reduction of $150,000.00.
I. Eliminate 6 Drivers Ed. Positions (teachers) Attendance records tracking unexcused absences will be used to determine which students will be eligible to take drivers ed. and which are not. Based on current patterns the belief is that a significant # of students will not meet the attendance requirements and therefore justify reducing the # of eligible students. Six Teachers eliminated @ a reduction of $300,000.00.
J. Reorganizing Business Ed Program @ WHS. Some courses including Keyboarding will no longer be offered. Six teacher positions eliminated. Consumer Education and Economics will remain. Six teachers eliminated @ a reduction of $300,000.00
K. Low enrollment courses will be eliminated; at this time they are looking at Electives that are not meeting a 22 student minimum enrollment. (12 teachers to be eliminated) SOME of the courses targeted are: Art Design 3, Photo, Intro to Wood Working, Womenâs Choir, Wood 3, Art Appreciation, Art 3. Music Theory, Machine Drafting, some vocational classes. 3 classes at the tech campus, and more. Six Teachers will be eliminated for a reduction of $300,000.00.
L. Elimination of 12 para professionals in various programs (those with the least seniority) for a decrease of $240.000.00.
M. Reduction in periods at both WHS campuses. College Study Program would drop to 8 periods from 9. Other programs would drop from 8 to 7. Dr. Hamlin spoke about âgravitating to the normâ in relationship to comparing the # of periods offered by other district to WHS current school schedules. (No specific data was presented to support his statement) He also stated that âthis will take away the margin of PLANNED FAILUREâ stating his belief that having so many periods available to some studentâs causes them to believe that itâs no big deal if they fail a class because their current schedule allows them time to repeat the class again in a future semester. Hamlinâs opinion is that reducing the time frame will force students to take greater personal accountability and to be more serious about the working within the tighter time frame allotted to complete graduation requirements. Hamlin admitted however that the graduation rate could be impacted. (????)
Also the College Studies Program will drop its current mandatory requirement that participants in the program must take as Freshmen Humanities and as Sophomores Critical Thinking. Students could take these as electives but they would cease to be part of CSPâs core curriculum. There would be no critical changes in the English Language Learners Program (ELL) @ WHS.
Combined these changes would result in 30 positions eliminated (teachers) at WHS for a reduction of $1,5000,000.00.
N. Elimination of 6 nurses (the 6 with least seniority). Reduction would be $416,085.00. Six new âHealth Aidesâ would be hired to offset the reduction of certified nurses @ a cost of $150,000.00. No job description was available, but it was stated that they would likely report to the Director of Nurses. Certified nursing staff will be reallocated to buildings with the most signifgant needs and health aides would be placed in âless needyâ buildings.
O. Elimination of Behavior Intervention Facilitator : a reduction of $81,684.00.
P. Eliminations of Special Ed. support staff (12 positions) @ a reduction of $852,390.00. Response to Intervention math materials that have been requested to cost $159.404.00.
Q. Elimination of 5 Curriculum Support Specialists (They assist & support teachers) Reduction:
$426,754.00 Adding 3 more school psychologists at a cost of $250,000.00
R. Reduction of Level B (freshmen) sports eliminating $55, 000.00. Adding 3 more school psychology interns. @ A cost of $45,000.00
S. Reduction of Legal Services â eliminating $200,00.00
Total cut: $5,767,520.00
New Expenditures: -$604,494.00
Eliminated $5,163,127.00
The following are my notes from the Board Meeting on Monday, May 24th. Mr, Gaudin announced at the beginning that these are âmostâ of the proposed reductions that there will likely be more. At the end of the meeting an audience member asked about the rest of the cuts and he responded that he was not at liberty to discuss the matter due to contract negotiations. Mr, Gaudin also stated that the letters had been prepared to call back 3rd and 4th year non-tenured teachers that had previously received Reduction In Force notices, An audience member (who was one of those teachers) asked him if they would receive the letters before the end of the school year and Gaudin indicated he believed they would.
It was the recommendation of the administration that the Board approve these reductions at the Board Meeting the following evening, but several board members indicated they would need more time than that to evaluate the proposal.
The Board has a Special Meeting set on Tuesday, June 1st in the Board Room at Lincoln Ctr. @ 6:30 p.m.
There is an opportunity for Public comment prior to the vote.
Compiled by Jane Vester, C.O.S.L.A. on 5/24/10
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Please pay special attention as to how the High School bears the brunt of the lion's share of these cuts. It is simply wrong to balance the budget on the backs of the students and teachers in this district, who already contend with limited resources and a bare-bones curriculum. Where are the administrative cuts? What are they giving up? Precious little, if you ask me. Let your voice be heard and hold our school board members accountable for their decisions. Plan on attending the meeting and signing-in to speak, and call them in advance with your opinion if you cannot attend. Now is not a time for silence and complacency.