D122 Starts Hiring Back Teachers

Ridgeland Dist. 122 has started to hire back some of the it let go in March.

At the D122 school board meeting last month, board members approved the rehiring of 14 teachers, including two new school principals at Simmons Middle and Harnew Elementary schools.

In March, D122 Superintendent Tom Smythe told Patch that the district routinely releases teachers every year, most of them from grant-dependent programs. The current school year’s layoffs, however, differ from past years because the district released non-tenured teachers, in addition to part-time teachers who provide math and reading instruction for larger classrooms.

The district anticipates hiring more teachers in May and June, and possibly up to July. The laid-off teachers must go through the application and interview process again to win back their jobs.

“We just replaced the middle school principal,” Assistant Superintendent Eric Trimberger said. “Approximately one-third of the teachers laid off were at (Simmons) middle school. The new principal has to be involved in that process.”

Trimberger said there are currently 12 openings at Simmons, and five teachers were called back at the last board meeting.

“There are always additional hirings right before school starts, but we don’t know how many kids we’re going to have until the last minute,” Trimberger, the district’s business manager, added.

Included in the March staff reductions are eight preschool teachers.  The district currently receives two state grants at a combined total of $460,030 for its preschool program. The Illinois State Board of Education, however, plans to roll both early childhood grants into one program and change to a competitive grant process next year. The district is till waiting to hear on funding for next year.

The ISBE also has been conducting program audits of schools in Chicago’s south region. D122 was found to be non-compliant with state and federal staffing guidelines for English Language Learning. The district was told to hire four more ELL teachers.

“We had to hire four extra (ELL) teachers,” Trimberger said. “If they told us to hire 12 ELL teachers, it would have impacted other areas.”

The district also released its Title I remedial reading teachers who are funded by U.S. Department of Education grants. Federal money is distributed to states, which is allocated to the state’s public school districts according to 10-year census figures. Congress has not yet approved the Title 1 budget.

Trimberger anticipated the district possibly bringing back five or six Title I teachers.

 “We’re hoping it stays the same, but nobody knows what’s going to happen to the federal money,” the assistant superintendent said. “The state’s going to lose money and we don’t know how it’s going to impact us. Everything is on hold.”

Title I funding for the 2010-11 school year was at $569,000. Overall, students district-wide have to meet “annual yearly progress” goals set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Special education and English language learners have fallen short the past two school years.

The ISBE requires districts to spend 10 percent of Title I funding and state block grants on staff development to help students meet reading standards required by No Child Left Behind.

The district spent a combined $150,000 of its state and federal funding on staff development, “so we’ll lose three teachers that we won’t have the money for,” Trimberger said.

In the past five years, D122 has seen poverty levels in its student population double in five years, from 675 students in 2005-06 to 1,332 in 2010-11, according to the Illinois Department of Human Services. Students in this category receive some type of state or federal aid, such as free lunches or Illinois All Kids medical aid.

Trimberger said that a higher number of students’ families are renting in the district because of a slow housing market.

“What we’re seeing is that houses within Dist. 122 that used to be (owned) single-family homes are now becoming rental units,” he said. “When the community shifts from homeowners to renters, it drives up the numbers for low-income students and English language learners.”

Should the district fail to meet annual yearly progress a third year in a row, D122 will need to take another 10 percent of state and federal funding and invest professional tutoring for students falling behind.

“It’s inherently unfair that the district is being penalized because children are being placed in special programs and ELL kids can’t score as high (as the general student population),” Trimberger said.