Schools

D181 Preliminary Report: Smaller Staff Expected in 2012-13

Associate superintendent Mary Ticknor said that could change as next school year gets closer.

It’s likely that District 181's staffing levels will be different next school year than they are currently, but whether the changes will equate to a bigger or smaller staffing budget is not yet certain.

District 181 could shave as much as $184,000 off the staffing budget in the 2012-13 year and add as much as $717,000 depending on the number of contingency positions administration needs to use when next school year arrives, according to a presentation made by associate superintendent Mary Ticknor Monday night at Clarendon Hills Middle School.

Ticknor presented to the board of education at its Committee of the Whole meeting a preliminary look at the district’s staffing needs in 2012-13. While the district currently plans on recommending an overall reduction of staff by about 10 full-time equivalents (FTE) next year, administration won’t know its actual needs until the school year is closer.

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“This will change,” Ticknor said of the staffing plan. “When master schedules are done and enrollment fluctuates, this is going to change.”

Due to expected enrollment decreases, the district currently believes it will need three fewer elementary classroom teachers in 2012-13. Several staff members plan to retire at the end of the current school year, so these reductions would be accommodated through attrition.

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Administration also currently plans to recommend reducing elementary art, music, and physical education staff by .76 FTE.

Staffing at is projected to be flat from this year to next, while one additional teacher will likely be needed at . The district plans to add one administrative FTE at the middle-school level to assist in implementing new state-mandated performance evaluation requirements for teachers at both schools.

One director-level position in the district's curriculum department will be added along with 4.2 additional elementary and district-wide specialists, including one Spanish teacher and two more of those performance-evaluation staff members at the elementary level.

The district plans to reduce the number of instructional assistants by 14.5 FTE and add one custodial FTE.

Principal support

The new staff related to performance evaluation would likely take care of district principals’ typical duties while the principals are in classrooms evaluating teachers.

Ticknor said the new state-mandated evaluation method, known as the Danielson framework, emphasizes increased observation time and an open dialogue between teacher and principal. That additional time can be difficult to come by for principals, who never know what administrative issues will arise on a given day.

“If you truly want things to change, and you want principals to have time to evaluate using this model, it’s going to take more support,” Ticknor said.

Board member Yvonne Mayer said the new positions must be more clearly defined before the board can support adding them. Superintendent Dr. Renee Schuster agreed and said a joint committee of teachers and administrators is currently working on the details of the positions.

“Before you can vote yes on approving those positions, you need a clearer picture,” Schuster said.

Contingencies calculated

Ticknor emphasized that Monday’s was a preliminary look at next year’s staffing and staff contingencies have been considered in case needs change as the 2012-13 school year gets closer.

“You know from previous presentations that what we think we’ll need in February and what we end up needing in August can be very different,” Ticknor said to board members.

The district has a 9.0 FTE contingency for instructional assistants, a 1.0 FTE contingency at the middle school level, a 3.5 FTE contingency for elementary classroom teachers, a .71 FTE contingency for elementary art, music and P.E. teachers, and a 1.0 FTE contingency for elementary and district-wide specialists.

The district also thinks its possible that up to three help-desk technicians could be needed if the @d181 Initiative Committee recommends implementing the program in 2012-13.

If none of the district’s contingency positions were needed, the district’s overall staffing budget would shrink by $184,000 from this year to next. If all of the positions were needed, the budget would increase by $717,000.

Ticknor said the staffing plan will be back in front of the board at its Feb. 27 business meeting.


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