Shortly before midnight Monday, the Naperville District 203 School Board rejected a plan to dismiss 38 teachers after about 70 parents, students, teachers and community members pleaded to save their jobs.
District administrators presented a proposal to honorably dismiss the educators as one way to close a projected $12.4 million budget deficit.
The board unanimously rejected the plan to thunderous applause from a packed house who remained at the meeting for about five hours waiting for the vote.
Dan Iverson, second vice president of the Naperville Unit Education Association, said the vote to reject the job cuts, known as a reduction in force, was the right thing to do and he was grateful the board heard the passion from the community. While there is still a deficit, he said, “this was not the right way” to close it.
In a news release Tuesday, Superintendent Dan Bridges said the board spent the evening listening to the district community, which “emphasized what we know: our teachers matter deeply to our students and families.”
“We also know this doesn’t make our financial challenges disappear,” his statement said. “Those challenges are real, and we still have difficult work ahead. But we are committed to finding a path forward that reflects both our responsibility to the district’s long-term financial health and the values our community shared with us.”
The district will revisit the budget to identify other ways to address the deficit, officials said.
For about 3½ hours Monday, middle and high school students and their parents told the board how much their teachers meant to them. The educators might be numbers on a page to the board and administrators, but they are positive mentors in their lives to the students, they said.
Among those scheduled to be laid off included a middle school teacher who attended a basketball game wearing the school’s mascot costume even after he was notified he was on the dismissal list. Several students wore blue to show solidarity and carried signs to save his job.
Another was a high school teacher who, according to Naperville Central senior Gabrielle Belken, went out of her way to provide the assistance she needed after she tore her ACL.
The Naperville North varsity cross country team gathered 1,000 signatures to save the position of their coach, who they said is positive and energetic.
“A teacher of his value and impact is truly one in a million, and he is not someone the district can afford to let go as part of a budget cut because the impact he can have on this district over the length of his career is worth far more than you can ever pay him,” senior Carston Harris said.
A parent spoke of how a beloved elementary school teacher combined learning with the magic of childhood while another said her 8-year-old daughter made a petition to save the job of her second-grade teacher.
Fellow teachers supported their colleagues while others questioned what kind of mental health services the students would receive if high school counselors were dismissed.
“Teachers are the heart of the eduction system,” Sophia White, an eighth-grade student at Kennedy Middle School, said. “When you cut them, you are prioritizing budget numbers over the future of students. I urge the board to find alternative solutions that do not jeopardize student learning or cut teacher positions.”
Naperville Central High School senior Gavin George asked the board to make teachers a priority. Cutting teachers would increase class sizes, reduce individualized attention and put more strain on teachers who remain, he said.
“Those decisions directly affect the quality that students receive,” he said. “And once you throw these great teachers away, they will not come back.”
Quality educators are hard to find and retain, Naperville North High School senior Alex Amato said. The ones proposed to be let go are some of the most talented and energetic teachers he’s seen.
He questioned what kind of message the district was sending to young educators who are beginning their careers.
Emily Rigik, a Naperville Central communication arts teacher, asked the board to close their eyes and think about a trusted teacher they had when growing up.
“Trusted adults everywhere in (District) 203 change lives every single day, every single hour and every single minute whether employed for one year or for 50,” she said.
Longtime Naperville Central social studies teacher Todd Holmberg voiced support for his colleagues who were on the dismissal lists. He said he can’t remember a time where the district used a reduction in force since he started in 1993, and he saw many students in tears when they learned that some of their favorite teachers would be dismissed. His department colleagues are beside themselves with sadness and anger, he said.
“I have no doubt you all are under a great deal of pressure to fix a significant problem,” he said. “However the current plan seems to be using the nuance of a meat cleaver to do the work of micro-surgery.”
As he prepares to retire, Holmberg said he wants to ensure the school, the district, his students and his department thrive.
Some of teachers included on the reduction in force list spoke of their love of teaching and helping students. Some were District 203 graduates.
Board President Charles Cush said the board is trying to reduce a deficit which shows a steep slope downward. The action won’t cancel the deficit, but will cause it to start leveling out, he said.
Several board members commended the speakers and noted that the students were eloquent in their speeches.
Board member Holly Blastic told the students they are experts in their experiences.
“Thank you and keep it up,” she said.
Board member Joe Kozminski asked if the administration could use several years of attrition to reach a balanced budget.
Board member Kristine Gericke said staff cuts were always the last on the board’s mind and tried to reach a more balanced budget in other ways.
“We are not doing this on a whim by any way, shape or form,” she said.
The reduction in force equaled about $2.7 million, district officials said.
About $4 million is expected to be saved through reducing building budgets, cutting nonessential travel, consolidating services and other ways to cut discretionary spending.
Bridges told those in attendance that the cost of education has risen faster than the revenue while some revenue sources, such as over $10 million in pandemic recovery funding, are no longer available.
Investment income in fiscal years 2024 and 2025 were historically high related to prior years, Bridges said.
Meanwhile property taxes are capped, and the state hasn’t fully funded categories such as transportation or special education, Bridges said. Instead the district has to use local funds to cover state-mandated expenses.
Salaries and benefits make up more than 80% of the district’s annual budget.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Naperville Sun.
