Link to Original Story

Cairo decides to cut teachers and staff

by Christy Millweard

CAIRO, IL (KFVS) - Should teachers stay, or go? Cairo school officials decided, some positions had to go.

The school board decided to cut 15 teachers, 5 teacher's aides, 2 secretaries, and 1 custodian.

It was an idea the district was throwing around in order to save money in a time of state budget cuts.

"Through the state we have to have a balanced budget, so in our effort to try to get there, we have to look at reduction in force, cut anywhere we can, but the real cuts only come when we reduce staff" said Superintendent Leotis Swopes

Superintendent Swopes said district administrators sent a proposal to the school board last week, and at the meeting Thursday night the board approved it.

Swopes says another thing they are looking into, is moving the district offices to the high school. He says they would also move the pre-school out of that building and into the elementary school.

The meeting lasted all evening.

It started at 6:00pm, but went into closed session around 6:30pm.

School Board members stayed in closed session for a little over three hours, opening back up at around ten till 10:00pm.

Right now, no word on how soon the cuts will take effect.

CAT Tracks Editor's Note:

Again...Cairo Superintendent of Schools Leotis Swopes with his "old adage" of losing shoes, losing feet. Must be an old "administration" adage. I'd never heard of it before he used it on one of his KFVS interviews...

From the Southeast Missourian...

Link to Original Story

Cairo school district cuts 23 jobs

By M.D. Kittle ~ Southeast Missourian

CAIRO, Ill. -- Faced with steep declining student enrollments and the state of Illinois' failure to come through on its financial commitments, the Cairo School Board has approved cutting 23 jobs, including 15 teaching positions. On Thursday, the board approved the job cuts to fill a projected $600,000 budget deficit, about 7.5 percent of the district's $8 million annual budget.

The reductions, a few through retirements but most through layoffs, will claim two preschool positions, an art teacher, and math, social studies, language arts and physical education teaching jobs. Five teacher's aides, two secretaries and one custodian also will lose their jobs under the cost-saving measures.

The positions will be eliminated after the school year, but some of the jobs could return in the fall semester depending on the state aid picture.

Once again, the district is scrambling to fill a funding gap created by a huge decline in enrollment and delayed payments from the state. Cairo's public schools have lost an average of 40 students per year over the last five years, according to superintendent Leotis Swopes. The district, he said, had prepared for the subsequent $300,000 loss in enrollment-driven state aid, funding reductions the shrinking school district of some 425 students has grown accustomed to.

The school system is waiting for $300,000 the state owes it in preschool funding. The check for the 2009-10 school year just arrived in December, Swopes said.

"Those late payments for preschool cut into our reserves. We're fortunate to have reserves, but those are quickly depleted when the state makes late payments or no payments at all.

"When the state loses its shoes, we lose our feet."

The school year began with uncertainty about the future of state aid for preschool programming, and the financial future remains murky.

The board had to act. Under Illinois law, school districts must notify teachers of layoffs within 45 days of the end of the school year, 60 days for administrators, or they must retain them.

Building consolidation also could be part of the budget cuts. The board next month is expected to vote on a plan to close the former junior high building that now serves as the district's administrative offices. Swopes said the move could save the district $150,000, with the administration functions relocating to the high school, and preschool programming transferring to the elementary school.

Closing the building, however, would cost a valuable tenant -- Shawnee Community College's Cairo Center, where Cairo High School students attend college-level courses for dual credit.

"Having a remote location in Cairo is great for our community," Swopes said, adding the district has been in conversations about finding another place for the college in Cairo.

Districts across Illinois are dealing with budget cuts as the Lincoln State's Legislature struggles to get the state's fiscal house in order. Lawmakers are calling for consolidation of the state's 868 school districts, a proposal picking up traction among some in Cairo.

"We've lost a lot of students, and schools in Illinois need to consolidate," said Brenda Gooden, a Cairo School Board member for two decades.

The political will, however, is another point entirely, Gooden said. Cairo, Egyptian, Century and Meridian school districts, all with mass declining enrollments in recent years, could join forces to build better school systems, Gooden said.

"If those four schools would come together, we'd have a decent high school. But the people aren't going to vote for it," she said. "They're not going to give up their high schools."

Swopes said the schools are sharing resources now, and consolidation could be a feasible extension of those partnerships.