D135 to State: We Oppose the Largest-Ever Unfunded Mandate

Update, Friday, March 23, 5:58 a.m.

will soon be sending word to the state capitol in opposition of the possibility that the state will thrust its teacher pension costs back onto local districts.

Interim Superintendent Dennis Soustek described it as the "largest unfunded mandate" that has come from the Illinois government in direction to the schools.

While no official language has yet been presented in the General Assembly about a pension shift, school district staff and board members from around the area, as well as state legislators, say they have heard the pension obligation shift is very likely to be offered as cost-cutting measure some time in 2012.

The District 135 Board of Education voted Thursday night in favor of sending a resolution that expresses their opposition to taking on the state costs.

"We want to encourage as many people as possible to call Springfield about this," Soustek said. "We really think it's a foregone conclusion that this will be presented."

Board President John Carmody was the single vote against the resolution, saying later that he disagreed with some of the language describing payment percentages in the resolution. He followed his nay vote by saying he does believe pension reform is needed, but how remains unclear.

Teaching Positions to be Reduced

The district is expecting about 45 fewer students in the coming school year, and as a result, the board voted to cut three teaching positions. Two classroom teaching positions will be eliminated through attrition, while one special education position will require a staff reduction, said Julie Oberwise, D135's Human Resources Director.

Special Education Director Ellen Belotti noted after the meeting that there are fewer students in special education than before, but that could change between now and August.

"Every child (in special ed) has their education plan reviewed each year," Belotti said. "Sometimes they are moved back into classrooms, or they are put into different programing."

Among the possible programs is Response to Intervention, a newer education approach meant to be customized to fit the student's specific needs. Belotti said RTI is too new to determine whether its implementation has also contributed to fewer students in special education than before.

Early intervention, on the other hand, now has over 50 more students than at the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year. 

Original Post, Thursday, March 22, 5:55 a.m.

Orland Park Patch will be live blogging the  Board of Education meeting Thursday night.

We will be using the live-blogging system Cover It Live to give a minute-by-minute rundown of Monday night’s board meetings. This is still a new effort so we ask for that healthy dose of patience to continue through this round. You are welcome to ask questions and join in the discussion through Cover It Live, though the same rules will apply to comments as they do on the site.

Committee of the Whole begins at 6:30 p.m. followed by the full board meeting at 7:30 p.m. The transcript will remain on site after the meeting wraps.

Attached are the meeting agendas with what will be discussed tonight. Leading up to the meeting, let me know if there's anything you particularly want to know about in the comments.

Read on for past examples of live blogs.

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