Fourth- and fifth- grade drama programs in Evanston schools will remain intact, but school childcare will be outsourced in a money-saving move under the final list of budget cuts passed Monday night by the Evanston/Skokie School District 65 board.
After more than a month of contentious debate over how to eliminate a $1.7 million deficit, the board voted to approve a list of 17 programs slated for cuts.
The items could save as much as $3 million, but the board will cut only enough to make up for the deficit.
Superintendent Hardy Ray Murphy said the board approved narrowing the budget-cutting options to notify as soon as possible the 19 teachers who may lose their jobs.
“We tried to focus on programs without salary program costs,” Murphy said at the meeting at the Joseph E. Hill Education Center, 1500 McDaniel Ave. “We tried not to take our teachers away. That’s what the community wanted.”
District 65 tried to save arts programs, said board member Jonathan Baum, who received e-mails and letters from children pleading to save the drama program.
Cuts in the drama program would have eliminated in-school drama in elementary schools; kindergarten through third-grade drama was cut in the budget process two years ago.
One of the most controversial cuts approved would turn over responsibility for childcare to the McGaw YMCA, 1000 Grove St., a collaboration that could save the district up to $142,000.
“All community organizations need to look at how best to share resources to best serve the community,” said Chris Hart, vice president of the YMCA
Delphine Thomas, a D65 childcare worker for 22 years, had one last plea to the board.
“It’s not fair to say that childcare doesn’t matter,” she said at the meeting. “I’m not bashing the ‘Y,’ but I know District 65 is a sufficient and nurturing program.”
District 65’s childcare offers before- and after-school programs for children who attend the district. Murphy said the district would look at cutting from childcare before moving on to the programs on the list that affect kindergarten through eighth grade.
Before the meeting, Bob Carroll, president of District Educators’ Council, said he thought making program cuts would reduce children’s engagement with their education, likening arts programs to ketchup.
“(My son) is a picky eater,” Carroll said “But if he can dip his stuff in ketchup, he’ll eat it.” The extra programs, he said, are “the ketchup that keeps kids involved in school.”
Several board members expressed concern over the district’s decision to include the extended day program and alternative school on the list of cuts. Since these programs affect the most vulnerable children, school board president Mary Rita Luecke said she was hesitant about putting the programs on the list.
Board member Hecky Powell urged Murphy to try to find funding through other sources to bring the extended day program back.
“It’s not just for the low-income but for all kids,” Powell said.
Murphy said any program on the list of possible cuts could be brought back as long as the district’s cuts total $1.7 million. But programs that are not on the list approved Monday will not be cut.
Most of the parents and teachers who spoke at the meeting before the vote strongly opposed making the cuts, and a few of them also said the board and administration had not done enough to involve citizens in the budget process.
“We cannot undo what has been decided at this meeting,” Carroll said.
School board member Bob Eder said the board should begin discussing next year’s budget to avoid drastic cuts.
“We don’t want to wait until next school year,” he said. “It has to start this school year.”
