District 31 pre-approve program, staff cuts if referendum fails

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Updated: February 22, 2012 12:17PM

All sports teams, all before- and after-school activities and gifted education are among the programs that will be eliminated in West Northfield Elementary School District 31 if voters turn down a tax increase referendum in March.

The District 31 School board last Thursday approved a list of cuts totaling about $1 million that will be implemented over the next two school years to cut spending if the referendum fails.

The measure, which would increase the maximum tax rate in the district by 27 cents per $100 equalized assessed valuation, is expected to generate about $1.55 million in revenue.

“This plan will be put into place if voters choose not to approve District 31’s proposed tax rate increase that is scheduled to appear on the March 20, 2012 election ballot,” said Superintendent Alexandra Nicholson.

“Please be assured that the Board and administration will continue to manage District 31 funds efficiently as well as to think creatively to find ways to save money while maintaining the integrity of our educational programs,” Nicholson said in a letter to District 31 parents and staff posted on the district web site Friday morning.

The new cuts would come on top of about $1.8 million the district has already eliminated from the budget.

Those cuts included about $1 million through the elimination of many extracurricular and after school activities and sports programs the district made after a referendum that would have increased the district’s maximum tax rate by 49 cents per $100 equalized assessed valuation failed in April of last year.

The new round of cuts approved last week will impact not only programs, but also will mean elimination of staff.

Also, the district plans to eliminate all financial support for transportation services and instead required parents to pay for those. Also, no transportation fee waivers will be available to students.

The per student annual transportation fee will increase from $400 to between $750 and $1,000 depending upon the number of students who ride the buses to and from school. Student transportation will need to be eliminated if the ridership decreases to the point where parent fees cannot cover the total costs.

Other planned cuts include:

• All regular education instructional assistants will be eliminated. They include kindergarten, first grade and literacy program assistants. The Learning Center and Computer Lab assistants and Winkelman School also will be eliminated.

• Student Services — The list of cuts includes several in the area of student services. They include the gifted education program, a reduction in staff for Speech and Language services, as well as a decrease in staff for Literacy services at Field Middle School, elimination of a Spanish Bilingual Education program assistant, eliminated of a Korean social worker and elimination of a Winkelman health office assistant.

In addition, an English Language Learners teacher at Field will be transferred to Winkelman and a part time Special Education teacher will be moved from Field to Winkelman.

• Fine Arts — Large cuts are planned in the area of fine arts with Beginning, Concert and Symphonic Bands, as well as instrumental lessons eliminated.

Also, the Field fine arts teaching staff will be reduced by the equivalence of 1.5 positions. This includes art, general music, applied technology and family consumer science.

• Other cuts — Other cuts included in the list approved by the board are a reduction in the Field computer lab teaching staff and the Winkelman physical education staff.

The Field advisory teacher stipend will be eliminated and the district plans to reduce spending for instructional supplies. Finally the district’s communications department will be eliminated and five of nine custodians will be outsourced.

In order to come up with the list, Nicholson said officials put together a comprehensive list of everything that is not mandated by law for the district to provide.

The second step in the process was a survey of staff and parents, asking them to select from a list the three areas they would prefer to cut and the three areas they would most want to save.

The information from the survey and the list of possible cuts were given to a special committee that reviewed and discussed them at a Jan. 10 meeting. The committee put together a list that was then given to administrators for a final review.

The 22-member committee included several staff members, a half dozen parents and two other community members, she said.

The board vote came a day after a citizens group, Citizens for District 31, held a press conference to announce its support for the referendum. The group will be working toward passage of the tax increase, something district officials are prohibited from doing by state law.

Though district officials can provide information on the measure, they cannot take a position on its passage or seek support for it.

“Asking our neighbors to support a tax increase is not something we take lightly,“ said Phil Hollenberg, parent and committee member. “All of the fat is gone from our schools’ budget. We need a long term permanent solution to properly fund our schools and a referendum is our only real option.”

The group is emphasizing the negative impact further program cuts will have not only on the District 31 educational program, but on property values in the district as well, something they say will affect residents who do not have children in District 31 schools.

Currently, Winkelman School class sizes are already 10 to 40 percent higher than neighboring schools and those class sizes will increase if the referendum fails, the group said.

District 28, which has the second lowest tax rate in the area, pays a tax rate 16% higher than District 31 and its average class size is 40 p[percent lower than District 31.

“The fact that additional cuts will impact current and future students for generations to come is just the beginning,” said Susan Harrison, parent and committee chairman. “Our educational system is the backbone of our community and if we don’t take the necessary steps now to preserve the quality of education the community at large will suffer.”

Nicholson has scheduled a series of forums this month to provide information on the referendum.

They will be held at 12:30 p.m., Feb. 22, in the Winkelman School Learning Center, 1919 Landwehr Road, Glenview; 9 a.m., Feb. 28, in the Field School Auditorium, 3131 Techny Road, Northbrook; and 7 p.m., Feb. 29, in the Field School Auditorium.

Citizens for District 31 has put up a web site to provide information on the referendum It can be found at www.savedistrict31.com.