Sesser-Valier Community District 196 Board of Education members made a difficult decision during Monday's meeting.
The result: The loss of six non-tenured and one tenured position, along with the elimination of several programs.
Superintendent Jason Henry said five of the six non-tenured positions affect the elementary classes.
"The other non-tenured position is a special education teacher at the junior high level and the high school agriculture teacher," Henry said. "Essentially, that means cuts to grades kindergarten through four. We will go from three sections in some elementary classes to two, which means an increase in class size.
"We have been averaging between 15 and 17 students per class. This will take us to 20 students per class, which is not uncommon. Having smaller class sizes has been very beneficial to the district, but if we can't afford to pay our bills, we can't afford to keep all of the classes."
The wild card is kindergarten, Henry said.
"The board has to take pre-emptive action to notify teachers of kindergarten layoff. At this point, it is unknown how many students will enter kindergarten next year because kindergarten registration is generally held later in March or April. Other classes are easier to predict because we know the variation due to transition of students. By state statute, we have to give advance notice of a layoff to kindergarten teachers."
Kindergarten registration at S-V Elementary School is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 24.
Henry said the board's decisions were something that no one wanted to see.
"Eliminating the agriculture teaching position essentially means an elimination of the program," Henry said. "The board is committed to not forgetting about the program. Typically, when a program ends, it is gone for good. We do not want that to be the case at Sesser-Valier. The board will continue to work on bringing back the program in two or three years."
Henry said there are three pieces to the puzzle.
"There is the mandated categorical payment, whereby the state reimburses us for our costs in the current year," he said. "That does not mean the state reimburses us 100 percent of our costs, but now the state owes us for a full year of cost reimbursement — or $545,000. That money is vouchered throughout the year by the state board of education.
"We have received one payment of $136,000 of the three vouchered payments that the district is supposed to receive. The third voucher is supposed to arrive on or about March 30. The district has received about one-fourth of what is due this fiscal year. We expect by June 30 that we will receive two payments, and I hope that we get at least half of what we are owed."
He said that would not help this year's financial situation.
"I am worried about what I have heard," he said. "There is talk about the state skipping payments all together. That would be devastating to the district."
The second piece of the puzzle is the federal stimulus money, he said.
"During Fiscal Year 2009, the state was owed federal stimulus money and said they would pay school districts with the federal money. That was almost $867,000 in state aid. This year, the state is doing the same thing. It is like the lottery that was initiated in the 1990s. Money from the state lottery was supposed to go to the schools. Instead, the state used federal money."
Henry said the loss of the mandated categorical payments means a $237,000 monetary loss to the district, or the final piece of the puzzle.
"The district has seen a decrease in enrollment," he said. "We also saw a decrease in attendance in the fall tied to influenza. Those 37 students who were absent equal $237,000 in funding to the district.
"We are looking at a $1.3 or $1.4 million loss in revenue in 2011," he said. "That's why we are making the decisions that we are making now. The staff reduction will equal $325,000. The board has taken the approach that we can't cut our way out of a $1.3 or $1.4 million dollar loss in revenue. We are spending down our cash reserve. I believe we can weather three or four years by doing this. I don't think this is a one-year problem. I think it will take three or four years to resolve."
Henry said cuts made during Monday night's meeting don't come close to the $1.3 or $1.4 million in lost revenue.
"I believe we can weather this," he said. "If we made no cuts at all, we would make it for a year. With the problems that we have, what do we do at the end of the year?"
He said the impact affects students and programs.
"The layoffs impact seven employees but we lost another one earlier in the year due to a resignation," Henry said. "Our high school Spanish teacher submitted her resignation earlier because she is moving to another area. That means our foreign language program is gone.
"We also had cuts to the extra-curricular programs," he said. "The board voted to cut 10 extracurricular positions, including assistant coaches. The cuts also affect the high school dance team, the Future Farmers of America program with the elimination of the agriculture teacher, field marching in the band, the school play, the junior high scholar bowl and the Rembrandt or art club. Those things are gone."
Henry said while some recommended eliminating all extracurricular activities, he said the board took another approach.
"There is value in kids having things to do," he said. "The board tried to find areas to cut that would have the least impact on students."
Sesser, Ill. —
