Story posted Friday, January 29, 2010
Monday Board Meet Moved To Auditorium
By DWIGHT ESAU Journal & Topics Reporter
Next Monday's (Feb. 1) High School Dist. 207 board of education meeting will be moved to the Maine South High School auditorium at 7 p.m., school officials announced this week. The session will be in the same building, since board meetings are usually held in the Frost Administration Center, located in another part of Maine South.
The board made the relocation decision at a special closed session meeting early Thursday morning, Jan. 28. The move is designed to accommodate a large audience that is expected to attend to witness the board's vote on a controversial $15 million cost reduction plan to reduce a projected $19 million deficit in the district's 2010-11 budget.
The plan includes a proposal to lay off more than 130 employees, including about 70 certified, non-tenured teachers.
About eight persons attended yesterday's (Thursday's) special meeting. One Maine South teacher spoke at the open portion of the session, objecting to the proposal to cut teacher jobs. Board members then went into a 90-minute closed session to discuss what were reported to be personnel matters.
About three years ago, Dist. 207 had reserves that totaled about $120 million. But in the last two years, it has begun tapping into that fund as deficits increased due to rising costs and flattening revenues. Reserves now total about $86 million. At a community forum attended by nearly 2,000 persons on Jan. 20, students, teachers, and residents urged the board to tap into the reserves rather than cut teaching jobs.
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