Supporters of the band program in Crete-Monee School District 201U Tuesday criticized a proposal to eliminate the program to help the district cut a $6 million deficit.
Some 600 parents and students attended Tuesday’s budget reduction hearing, which was held in the auditorium of Crete-Monee High School.
“What you’re losing is your school’s fight song,” said Zach Nelson, a 2005 graduate and member of the school’s band. “There will be no Pomp and Circumstance at graduation.”
Nelson, a senior at Eastern Illinois University, challenged school board members to avoid listening to music for two weeks if they believe the band program has no value to the district.
“Band also gives these students a place to belong,” said Sarah Brazee, an art teacher at Coretta Scott King Magnet Scott in University Park.
Several parents said band should not be a casualty of budget cuts when funding for sports programs is not being reduced.
The district has proposed eliminating the band program because it has the highest cost-per-student ratio of any extracurricular program, officials said.
Many parents wore “I Love Band” stickers, and the band’s two drum majors attended the meeting in full uniform.
Mary Ann Moscatel, whose daughter Tina is one of the drum majors, said she plans to enroll her daughter at Marian Catholic High School in Chicago Heights next year if the Crete-Monee band is eliminated.
“How am I going to apply for scholarships if she hasn’t marched in two years?” Moscatel said Wednesday.
Moscatel said she doubts the band program will be preserved.
“I’m not hopeful,” she said.
Other parents attended the three-hour hearing to protest a proposal to consolidate the district’s kindergarten program at Talala School in Park Forest. Currently, the district maintains kindergarten classes at five schools.
“My main concern is putting my 5-year-old on a bus and sending her two towns over,” said Jenny Nolte, a Monee resident. “We need to think about the kids. The whole thing is about the kids.”
Board president David Sevier said he realizes the budget cuts will affect some members of the district community more than others.
“These are tough decisions,” Sevier said. “We have to make decisions for the district as a whole.”
The school is expected to vote on the proposed budget cuts at its March 15 meeting.
Supt. John Rodgers opened the hearing with a presentation outlining the district’s financial situation as well as the budget cuts under consideration.
The district’s goal is to eliminate deficit spending by 2014 by increasing revenue, reducing operation services costs and eliminating programs and staff, Rodgers said.
The budget reduction plan calls for $3.6 million to be cut from the education fund for the 2010-11 school year. The biggest cuts have to be implemented in the first year of the reduction plan in order to balance the budget in the education fund within three years, officials said.
Proposed program and staff reductions include cuts in administrative and managerial positions, support services, electives and extracurricular programs. Additionally, the district is considering increasing class sizes and closing one of its schools, Rodgers said.
“Because the gap is so large, we had to look at reducing programs,” he said.
As of January, the state comptroller was behind on cutting $1.8 million worth of checks to the district. If they don’t get that money, the deficit will soar higher.
“It’s our revenue that’s not in our control,” said Rodgers.
The district has enacted a hiring freeze for several positions and is holding off on raises for many non-union workers.
Most drastic, however, is a move to lay off all non-tenured first-, second-, third- and fourth-year teachers – more than 100 of 300-plus teachers in the district – before rehiring some of them back before the next school year.
Teachers will receive formal notification in March. Rodgers said it was too early to know how many teachers will return for the next school year.
Distributed via Chicago Press Release Services
Yahoo Mail is getting a much needed feature, which is some time overdue. When the new Yahoo Mail was launched, not exactly recently, several features got left behind leading to quite an uneven experience. One minute you’re in the ‘new’ Yahoo Mail, the next you’re in another window in Yahoo Calendar sporting the same ‘old school’ look it has for several yea… (
