03-26-2010, 08:17 PM
This made the Chicago news. Good to see the students take action. To bad officials canceled the parade in retaliation.
Waukegan students walk out to protest teacher layoffs
March 26, 2010 4:43 PM
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More than 200 Waukegan High School students walked out of school for a little over an hour this morning to protest the looming layoff of more than 500 teachers.
More might have taken part in the demonstration if school administrators hadn't ordered a "soft lockdown" at the high school's two campuses when they learned a demonstration was under way.
The school district also announced that a parade and celebration planned for later Friday honoring Waukegan High School's basketball team, which placed third in the state Class 4A basketball tournament this month, was cancelled, apparently as a result of the demonstration.
The event was cancelled "because of concerns about safety," said Nicholas Alajakis, a school spokesman.
The protest began around 11 a.m. when students at the Washington Street Campus at Washington and Jackson streets started walking the halls and chanting their support for teachers threatened with dismissal, Alajakis said.
The students, some carrying signs, circled the main building before marching to the high school's Brookside Campus, about a mile and a half west. The demonstrators marched around the Brookside building.
Witnesses said it appeared few if any students from Brookside joined the march.
No passes are issued allowing students to leave high school buildings under a soft lockdown, Alajakis said. The measure was known as a "Code White" last year.
After circling the Brookside building, students marched back to the Washington Street Campus. Students were back in classes or dispersed by about 12:15 p.m., authorities said.
There were no arrests made, said Waukegan police Lt. Edward Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the department. "We had officers there to watch and see if there were any problems. There weren't any," he said.
Some 560 school employees, mainly teachers, have been given "reduction in force" notices. The pink slips mean the employees could be laid off next fall if the district fails to reach new agreements with its unions or the state fails to come through with funding, according to school officials.
The 17,000-student unit district has about 2,000 employees in kindergarten through 12th grade, including 1,300 teachers.
The Waukegan Unit School District is on the state's Financial Watch List. The district is facing a gap of about $10 million between expected revenues and expenses for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, according to Jules Gaudin, deputy superintendent and chief financial officer for the district. The figure represents about 8 percent of this year's total school budget.
-- Ralph Zahorik
Waukegan students walk out to protest teacher layoffs
March 26, 2010 4:43 PM
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/03/waukegan-students-protest-teacher-layoffs.html">http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010 ... yoffs.html</a><!-- m -->
More than 200 Waukegan High School students walked out of school for a little over an hour this morning to protest the looming layoff of more than 500 teachers.
More might have taken part in the demonstration if school administrators hadn't ordered a "soft lockdown" at the high school's two campuses when they learned a demonstration was under way.
The school district also announced that a parade and celebration planned for later Friday honoring Waukegan High School's basketball team, which placed third in the state Class 4A basketball tournament this month, was cancelled, apparently as a result of the demonstration.
The event was cancelled "because of concerns about safety," said Nicholas Alajakis, a school spokesman.
The protest began around 11 a.m. when students at the Washington Street Campus at Washington and Jackson streets started walking the halls and chanting their support for teachers threatened with dismissal, Alajakis said.
The students, some carrying signs, circled the main building before marching to the high school's Brookside Campus, about a mile and a half west. The demonstrators marched around the Brookside building.
Witnesses said it appeared few if any students from Brookside joined the march.
No passes are issued allowing students to leave high school buildings under a soft lockdown, Alajakis said. The measure was known as a "Code White" last year.
After circling the Brookside building, students marched back to the Washington Street Campus. Students were back in classes or dispersed by about 12:15 p.m., authorities said.
There were no arrests made, said Waukegan police Lt. Edward Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the department. "We had officers there to watch and see if there were any problems. There weren't any," he said.
Some 560 school employees, mainly teachers, have been given "reduction in force" notices. The pink slips mean the employees could be laid off next fall if the district fails to reach new agreements with its unions or the state fails to come through with funding, according to school officials.
The 17,000-student unit district has about 2,000 employees in kindergarten through 12th grade, including 1,300 teachers.
The Waukegan Unit School District is on the state's Financial Watch List. The district is facing a gap of about $10 million between expected revenues and expenses for the 2010-2011 fiscal year, according to Jules Gaudin, deputy superintendent and chief financial officer for the district. The figure represents about 8 percent of this year's total school budget.
-- Ralph Zahorik