PCHS Tells Staff to Work With Less
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[The Pinckneyville Community High School Board of Education has put staff on notice- they need to be prepared to work with fewer supplies and make cuts wherever they can. For the time being, layoffs are not expected.
The board rehired all tenured staff and 10 of 12 non-tenured certified staff Monday evening.
"We can make the schedule work without them," Green said. He added that the positions might be posted at a later date.
"The last time I checked, public education was not in the business of making a profit," Green said. "We're in the business of educating children."
PCHS, like all other schools in the state, is suffering due to lack of state payments. Currently the school is owed $300,000 in categorical payments. General state aid is also down about 10 percent.
Categorical payments for transportation and special education are expected to be made quarterly. PCHS received only three payments during the 2008-2009 school year and one payment so far this year.
Green said Dist. 101 is lucky because they planned to receive less than was promised. According to calculations, the school should have been on track to receive about $2 million from the state this year. For budget purposes, Green projected receipts of $1.8 million.
He is projecting even lower state revenue for next year, taking the estimate down to $1.5 million.
"We've made significant budget cuts in all areas," Green said. "The staff has been told up front what to expect and to use their creativity."
Green said the district is fortunate to have some funds in the bank to cover the current shortfall of state funding. This year's expenditures are currently four percent under budget.
In other business, the board:
approved a contract with TWM for civil engineering services on the new school. The contract specifies a $38,000 lump sum payment and additional funds for permits and other added costs. Any work beyond what is covered by the lump sum will be done at an hourly rate.
approved a memorandum of understanding with the Teacher's Association to allow Greg Hale to retire and accepted Hale's letter of resignation.
re-employed all tenured staff and 10 of 12 non-tenured certified staff. They were: Brian Bender, Nancy Blechle, L.J. Heisner, Nolan Kellerman, Carrie Koester, Rita Williams, Eric Kirkpatrick, Todd Thomas, Kim Lietz and Adrienne Wilson. Two non-tenured certified staff and one non-certified employee were not re-hired for the coming year. The non-certified employee had been hired for an ARRA-funded program for only one year.
posted open extra-curricular positions for Athletic Director, Assistant Girls Basketball Coach and Head Girls Softball Coach.
approved the purchase of an activity bus at a cost of $35,000 including a trade-in of an 11-passenger van. The district purchased an activity bus two months ago at a cost of $42,000 and is still seeking two eight-passenger vans. The state ruled that 11-passenger vans were no longer suitable for school use, forcing all school districts to replace them.
amended the 2009-2010 school calendar. The last day of school will be May 18. Graduation will be Saturday, May 8 at 5 p.m.
set the dates for the 2010-2011 school calendar. The first day of school will be Wednesday, Aug. 18 and school will get out some time between May 18 and June 2, 2011, depending on the number of snow days used.