District 300 to Vote on Cutting 363 More Positions

The District 300 School Board met last night to discuss ways to re-organize middle schools and high schools to help balance its budget.

Administration proposed three options during the meeting. The first includes re-organization of both middle schools and high schools and would include  releasing 363 teachers, according to the District 300 website. The option, according to the Tuesday presentation, is the only one that would balance the district's budget.

Another proposed option includes re-organization solely of middle schools, which would include releasing 76 teachers. And the last option is to make no changes at the middle or high schools.

Administration proposed the options as a way to bridge a budget gap of at least $5 million, in the best case scenario, and $24 million as the worst case scenario, according to documents from the Tuesday night presentation.

During the meeting, Superintendent Elect Michael Bregy said that if teachers and administrators are released, some or all could possibly be called back to work if money is able to be saved in other areas, according to a District 300 press release.

Last week, District 300 voted to release additional teaching positions, according to a . Also Tuesday, Dundee-Crown High School students walked out of school to protest cuts and changes to the curriculum, according to the Daily Herald.

As well as other cuts, the district is also considering a complete overhaul of its special education program. That plan is expected to be proposed during a May 2 meeting. To read more on the audit, visit this LITH Patch article.

The board will meet tonight to vote on whether to release more District 300 staff at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the gymnasium at Westfield Community School, 2100 Sleepy Hollow Road in Algonquin. To view the agenda for this meeting, visit the district's website.

If you are a teacher or a parent who is feeling the affects of cuts to local schools, visit our Moms Talk column and tell us how these cuts are affecting you and your students and kids.