Post by title1parent on Nov 10, 2009 7:41:10 GMT -5
www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=335396&src=76
Kaneland teachers asked to renegotiate raises
By Susan Sarkauskas | Daily Herald 11/10/09
Kaneland school board member Diane Piazza said she feels "solidified" in her vote last year against a teacher's contract.
At the time, she said the district shouldn't dole out the raises it did, because the economy was bad.
"That contract was more than we could afford," she said Monday night, when asked to look back.
But she's not taking joy in being right. Last week, the Kaneland school district formally asked the 290-member Kaneland Education Association to consider renegotiating the three-year pact to cut costs, as a $2.5 million operating funds deficit looms in the 2010-11 budget year.
In a memo distributed last week to district residents, Superintendent Charles McCormick said the "easy cuts" were already made when the district cut $750,000 in nonpersonnel spending from the 2009-10 budget.
The contract runs through the 2011 school year. It raised base pay 4.86 percent the first year, 6.21 percent for the current school year and 5.6 percent in 2010-11. The contract was approved in late October 2008.
Monday night, Assistant Superintendent for Business Julie-Ann Fuchs told the board it should expect an increase of only $386,000 in the "new growth" portion of its 2009 tax levy, based on getting maybe $8 million in new property growth. Residential construction in the district has come nearly to a standstill.
"It is silly because we're used to getting millions more in new money, but at this point every new dollar is really going to help us with the upcoming budget year," she said. In 2007, for example, more than $64 million was added to the district's assessed valuation from new property.
During the real-estate boom of the early to mid-2000s, the district's enrollment grew by as much as 9.6 percent a year. It built an additional middle school and two elementary schools, plus enlarged the high school and an elementary school to accommodate the increase. It thought it might have to add as many as 11 schools by 2015.
But when it became apparent last year that enrollment projections were not going to hold up, the board decided to stick with running just one middle school - the new Harter campus. The old middle school, which shares a campus with the high school, is being used for some Fox Valley Career Center classes.
The teachers union is under no legal obligation to reopen its contract.
Jeff Schuler, associate superintendent, is now posting podcasts on the district's Web site talking about the district's finances. New podcasts will be posted after each school board meeting.
"Unfortunately, the closer our next fiscal year gets, the tougher it looks," Schuler said in this week's podcast. He will become superintendent in mid-2010 when McCormick retires.
"It will be very upsetting if we have to let teachers go," said Piazza.
Kaneland teachers asked to renegotiate raises
By Susan Sarkauskas | Daily Herald 11/10/09
Kaneland school board member Diane Piazza said she feels "solidified" in her vote last year against a teacher's contract.
At the time, she said the district shouldn't dole out the raises it did, because the economy was bad.
"That contract was more than we could afford," she said Monday night, when asked to look back.
But she's not taking joy in being right. Last week, the Kaneland school district formally asked the 290-member Kaneland Education Association to consider renegotiating the three-year pact to cut costs, as a $2.5 million operating funds deficit looms in the 2010-11 budget year.
In a memo distributed last week to district residents, Superintendent Charles McCormick said the "easy cuts" were already made when the district cut $750,000 in nonpersonnel spending from the 2009-10 budget.
The contract runs through the 2011 school year. It raised base pay 4.86 percent the first year, 6.21 percent for the current school year and 5.6 percent in 2010-11. The contract was approved in late October 2008.
Monday night, Assistant Superintendent for Business Julie-Ann Fuchs told the board it should expect an increase of only $386,000 in the "new growth" portion of its 2009 tax levy, based on getting maybe $8 million in new property growth. Residential construction in the district has come nearly to a standstill.
"It is silly because we're used to getting millions more in new money, but at this point every new dollar is really going to help us with the upcoming budget year," she said. In 2007, for example, more than $64 million was added to the district's assessed valuation from new property.
During the real-estate boom of the early to mid-2000s, the district's enrollment grew by as much as 9.6 percent a year. It built an additional middle school and two elementary schools, plus enlarged the high school and an elementary school to accommodate the increase. It thought it might have to add as many as 11 schools by 2015.
But when it became apparent last year that enrollment projections were not going to hold up, the board decided to stick with running just one middle school - the new Harter campus. The old middle school, which shares a campus with the high school, is being used for some Fox Valley Career Center classes.
The teachers union is under no legal obligation to reopen its contract.
Jeff Schuler, associate superintendent, is now posting podcasts on the district's Web site talking about the district's finances. New podcasts will be posted after each school board meeting.
"Unfortunately, the closer our next fiscal year gets, the tougher it looks," Schuler said in this week's podcast. He will become superintendent in mid-2010 when McCormick retires.
"It will be very upsetting if we have to let teachers go," said Piazza.