Fieldcrest makes cuts in teaching staff
Friday February 6, 2004 Posted 2:30 p.m.
The Fieldcrest Board of Education voted to eliminate some teaching positions in the school
district for the coming year at a special meeting Thursday night. The cuts were part of the board's effort to reduce costs
in an attempt to reduce the budget deficit. Board president Jeff Pickard said that if we don't make these cuts this year, that means we will have to make even
more cuts next year. Superintendent Dr. Michael Stagliano said that if you factor in replacing
retiring teachers with less experienced teachers the cuts will amount to around $151,000.
In addition to the cuts, the board also discussed
the possibility of not hiring a Principal for the grade schools. Board member Tim McNamara said
that it would be nice to have a Principal at the grade school but the school cannot afford to
hire one at this time. Dr. Stagliano said that one option is to use
2 head teachers to enforce discipline at the elementary schools.
The board approved the following cuts:
- One FTE elementary Music teacher
- One MS Computer Teacher: This ultimately means that
students in grades K-4 will not receive formal instruction from a computer teacher.
- Eliminate 1/2 time Computer Aide at Fieldcrest South:
According to Dr. Stagliano,
this cut will eliminate computer education for K-5 because the
"one" teacher left would only be able to accommodate middle school students. Unless
the elementary teachers are trained in computer technology, the students at this level will not learn about
computers until 6th grade. If keyboarding teaching is cut at South at grades K-4, then
all elementaries must do the same for equity purposes.
- One 1/2 time First Grade Teacher at Fieldcrest West:
- One P.E. Position at FHS:
The retirement of Jack Marcolene will necessitate hiring a PE position for the high school. The
position will be posted and it is possible to hire someone within. The replacement teacher will
be less expensive then the retiring
veteran teacher resulting in an expected first year savings of about $12-15,000 per year.
Dr. Stagliano said that
if attendance centers had been implemented, the PE position at South could have covered two or
three periods at the high school. Currently, there is not an effective way that one person can
cover all PE and health classes at the high school. Also, it is important to have a male and female teacher.
The grade school teacher would need to cover three classes at the high school, possibly
four- depending on health classes and numbers placed in the classroom.
This would be very difficult to handle for one person.
- One FTE elementary Music
- Eliminate FTE French and English teacher: Class sizes in Spanish will increase as a result of
this cut. The board recommended to gradually phase out French by not offering French I in the fall of '04
Busses purchased
Chicago Bus Sales of Crestwood, Illinois submitted the lowest bid for the purchase of 3 new busses for
$164,706. The only other bidder was Midwest Transit.
Working cash bonds
The board approved the issuance of $750,000 in working cash bonds. The bonds will be needed to meet the
financial obligations of the school district this year. The overall district tax rate will increase
about 28 cents costing the owner of a $60,000 house approximately $70 more in property taxes.
Knight Fund Trust proposalThe board approved the purchase of District library materials
in the amount of $300 from the the Knight Fund Trust. The Knight Fund Trust is an endowment from
the Dornbush family. The trust originally had a balance of $25,000 at its inception in 1992.
The Board of Education began accepting proposals in the spring of 1995. The grant amount may not
exceed $3500 and is limited to one (1) monetary award per year per organization.
Currently $6,100 exists in the trust.
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