$1.1 million. Six teachers. Four more students per class. Budget cuts are hitting Kaneland with everything they’ve got.
At both February board meetings, the district discussed the latest round of budget cuts.
“There’s no good way to talk about budget costs,” Superintendent Jeff Schuler said.
Since Kaneland is in debt, the administration has agreed on both building and teacher reductions.
The total amount that will be cut is approximately $1.1 million. Since 72 percent of district expenditures come from salaries, the cuts mean that several faculty members will lose their jobs.
“According to Dr. Schuler, there is no room for further cuts in other areas. They have cut as much as they can,” KEA president Sharon Beck said.
Another cost-reduction measure is to cut some elective classes and enlarge class sizes. Which classes will be cut has not been announced, but without even counting any of the electives being cut, the class sizes will increase in high school to an average of about 29.
“Students will have less of an opportunity to take second-level elective classes,” counselor Cynthia Violett said. “There are fewer elective openings on the eight-period day for students to take, therefore elective numbers will go down.”
The district also plans on raising the fees to cover costs.
Paul Piazza, a father of five in the Kaneland School district, has an issue with raising the fees.
“As a father of five, raising the school fees by 10 percent will make the cost of school as much as my mortgage,” Piazza said.
Other cuts discussed include reducing temporary maintenance employment, reducing vehicle replacement in maintenance, reducing summer help by four employees, reducing the replacement of technology equipment, cutting one early childhood section, purchasing only one bus a year instead of two and providing some SPED transportation in-house. They also will be renewing a contract with the generator service and having FVCC students do building repairs, as well as work to reduce costs for the boiler room.
“KEA does not want to see teachers cut. We do not want to see class sizes go up. However, we realize the board has a responsibility to run a balanced budget. We also realize that these are difficult economic times,” Beck said.
Since the storage shed at Harter Middle School was recently finished, there won’t be anymore trailer rental costs and garbage bins, so that will help cut the rental cost.
Already with these cuts, the district has saved $431,776. Some students, however, don’t agree with what the board chose to cut.
“I feel like the more students in a class, the less productive the classroom environment will be and the less individual work time with the teacher,” sophomore Riley Coyle said.