O’Fallon School District 90 issues 29 RIF notices

O’Fallon School District 90 has notified 29 staff members, including four teachers along with 25 program and instructional aids, that they may not be hired back next year.

The District 90 school board voted on Tuesday of last week to send those “reduction in force” (RIF) notices in an effort to reduce its deficit.

Superintendent Carrie Hruby said the district will not know how large deficit is until after it receives May and June property tax payments from the county.

The district, however, is hoping to rehire a number of its RIFs as they are soon as they are financially able, she said.

Hruby said the four teachers issued RIFs were informed the hiring period would be for just one year, and that likely would be issued a RIF if they did not receive grants to pay for teacher salaries. The district has yet to hear if those grants have been approved, she said.

School districts are required to notify teachers 45 days before the end of the school year that teachers will not be coming back.

However, the school board, agreed to reduce its current fee schedule for clubs and sports for the coming school year.

Depending on the sport, the reduction will range from to $50 and $100.

Last year, District 90 club and athletic fees ranged from $85 to $325, depending on the sport.

An advisory committee, comprised of parents, staff, administrators, coaches and club sponsors recommended the fee change. Hruby said, they felt the fees currently charged by the district were too high.

Anticipating the change in its school fees schedule, the school board earlier put an additional $123,000 in its 2015-16 budget to help offset the anticipated difference. The district uses its athletic fees to help pay for a coach’s stipend, game officials and transportation costs.

District 90 serves about 3,492 students and has 200 full-time teaching positions, Hruby said.

O’Fallon School District 203

Meanwhile, O’Fallon School District 203, issued six RIFs on Thursday of last week. District 203 Superintendent Darcy Benway, on Tuesday was quick to point out that the six teachers did not loose their jobs.

“At the high school level, RIFs are done by a class (or section) at a time,” she said.

A full time teacher at District 203 teaches 10 sections per year.

The RIFs made were for class/section decreases, including:

▪ Art – RIF of one section (one teacher impacted: went from a full time teacher to 90 percent);

▪ Math – RIF of five sections (one teacher impacted: went from a full time teacher to 50 percent);

▪ P.E. – RIF of four sections (two teachers impacted: One teacher went from a 30 percent teacher to not employed; and, the other teacher went from a full time teacher to 90 percent);

▪ World Language – two sections (one teacher impacted: went from a 40 percent teacher to a 20 percent teacher); and

▪ A Teacher who filled a one year leave of absence for 2015-2016 had to legally be RIFed (or released) for the teacher on leave to return. The teacher who filled the leave of absence was aware of this when hired.

“The RIFs were made due to enrollment decreases and the course selections made by students,” Benway said. “In areas where there were not enough students for a section class, the section was removed.”

The class sections decreased by RIFs are not expected to be replaced, Benway said.

On Thursday of last week, District 203 also approved a $25 fee increase on its fees schedule.

The increased fee will generate the district an additional $50,000 to cover increased costs for textbooks, instructional class resources, and lab class supplies, Benway said.

“Fees support costs of making laptops and equipment available for student checkout,” she said.

District 203 serves 2,511 students and has 132 full-time teachers, according to its 2015 Illinois State Report Card.

Central School District 104

In the meantime, Central School District 104 in O’Fallon has issued no RIF notices, Superintendent John Bute said on Tuesday.

Last year, District 104 issued one RIF to a paraprofessional, who was later rehired by the district.

The District 104 school board has not addressed any changes to its current fee schedule. Bute said the board and won't consider a chance in it fee schedule until May.

District 104 serves 592 students and has 42 full-time teachers, according to its 2015 Illinois Report Card.

Shiloh School District 85 has not responded to email or phone calls.

This story was originally published March 25, 2016 at 1:12 PM with the headline "O’Fallon School District 90 issues 29 RIF notices."