What a shame!!! I personally WILL NOT vote for any of the 4 board members that voted yes on this issues. I urge anyone in the community who does not agree with this decision to do the same. I get we need to got cost but I don't think this decision was well studied and thought out. I think other things could have been cut before closing a school which should have been the last resort. Terrbile leadership and they should be ashamed of themselves.

This is why they brought Wildeveld or however you spell her name in. Nice dirty politics. Bring in someone who will vote with you, not do the right thing for the children.

We can only hope that they will reverse their decision on this too.

And to think all the ideas and suggestions that parents came up with over the past weeks...signatures on petitions...and the Board,Rains & Martin ignored ALL OF IT. It obviously was just a show to keep parents and taxpayers thinking their ideas would be heard. These 4 Board members need to go. And the next board meeting they are going to CUT more!!! They are not done yet. Please everyone ...watch what happens next, makes me mad that they are doing what they want. I cant wait till the market picks up and I can sell my house and move out of Frankfort!

I believe everyone on the Board has been so burdened with these difficult decisions
they are forced to make!!!
they are all passionate and stood true to their convictions.!!! I couldn't ask for anything more.!!!
I am so sorry to all the staff and Mrs. Klein. It sounds that they had a wonderful cohesive and special role in the life of our district. I remember how excited everyone was with all the blueprints etc of the new elementary school in 2007.
That was a confusing and overwhelming time however as I recall everyone was asked whether they wanted to stay at their school or go to Mary Drew... everyone was aqsked to submit this survey at IT! I was thinking about the kids back then too.
Having to move schools and leave their friends.!!! that was tough...but they all adjusted and came to love their new school. Now we need to adjust again and this wears on everyone.
Remember this is a new Board and new administration it will take a year to get through this transition.
Mrs Rains is right this is a very emotional time for everyone especially our students.
Lets all role model yet be genuine with them about our grief as well as support them...
these are life lessons for all of us. Change is hard!!! Life is hard!!!
I hope that we all can grow as a community and support one another fully..
I do believe Mrs.Kenny going over and over all the paperwork all these weeks with a heavy heart .Programming was not cut I am thankful for this!

Well said Ms. Nyder.

Something needed to be done. Children can adjust to a building being cut. However, suggestions like "cut all activities" cannot be adjusted to. Alot of socially awkward children choose to be in clubs like Speech and Drama, those would have been included in this cut, as well as ALL clubs in the elementary schools. This is just a building, a building that a few short years ago parents were kicking a fit over it being built since it meant that their children would have to go to another school. Some of the same parents who were opposed to the kindergarten program being taken away were also opposed to the closing of this school, some of the same board members who fought to save the kindergarten program had to vote to close this school. I saw what happened in this meeting, all of you kicking a fit because our school (Mary Drew) got selected..would you have been among those who walked out if it was one of the other schools? Would you stand up and fight for Frankfort Square? Would you stand up and fight for Arbury Hills. To have my child come home from school and tell me that her friends say they don't want to go to school with the "dirty" frankfort square kids or the "snobby" rogus kids is ridiculous. These children donot pick these phrases up on their own, these things come out of their parents mouths. So I ask..What are you really fighting for? A building? Your children are all going to end up in the same pot, they will all attend 5th- 12th together.

All those opposed to closing anything, where do you suppose we make cuts? Would you prefer we strip away the activities from our kids? Something needed to be cut. How can we ask parents to put an extra 150 dollars towards each child. Just to keep a building open? I have known families that have 6 kids in the summit hill school district at once. So your suggesting that they pay an extra 900 dollars to enroll their six children or that they admit they cannot afford that and sell candy or that we go to the businesses?! Are we panhandlers now? These suggestions though lovely are just not feasible.

Rose C, your assuming I have no idea what Im talking about. But everything I've said is true. I will continue to critize these board members when for the past 4 years members did NOT make the hard decisions that needed to be made. This financial mess was only addressed in November, where it should have been dealt with alongtime ago. Since 2007 the masses have cut back/shut downs, etc. Even LW has made major cuts, 8 million since 2007. SH161 has done nothing till this past November...this is poor management. This district deserves better than what we've been handed in the past 3 months. We have never had to close a school before in our district. Maybe if they would have been dealing with the obvious since day 1 we would not be critizing their decisions today.

They will be effective if they are good teachers @Kelly. Districts in every town in this country shuffle teachers from one building to another each year as enrollment numbers shift even when all schools remain open. I agree they had to do something and I school closing is a much better option than cutting any program. I just wish they had waited a year and looked at the big picture. Questions like what happens the following year when we close another school(which seems to be likely) and we redistrict these kids again? I do think kids will handle these changes much better than the adults, but to keep changing boundries and switching schools will be an adjustment. Why not just wait a year and close both schools at once so the change is only once. Why not be 110% sure that the schools they are picking are the best in the long run. Does the income of renting out Mary Drew out weigh the cost of remoldeling FS or AH? I haven't seen the answers to these questions. I also think this community needs to STOP making false statements all over the internet. I have seen so many half truths! Striking fear in the community does not help. Some people have not been following the information until today and when you post class sizes will be 30 or that certain programs were said by the board to be unecessary or have no educational value yet are choosing to keep them over keeping a school open you get people all upset who don't know the truth of what has really been said by the board.

They need a finance director who can come in and save dollars in real places. How much waste is happening. How many of these board members were around when they agreed to this contract for the teachers...I'm all for the teachers getting paid b/c they are wonderful, but 5percent is too much and that should have been evident when this contract was made, a contract that the board agreed with and approved. Again, I think the teachers are deserving, but this should have never been an issue b/c no one had the ability to see in the future and plan it out. Simple math would have shown back then that these salaries were not going to be able to be covered. The recession didn't start this year, it was in place when this contract was put in to place. This is the boards fault and now we all have to suffer b/c of ignorance and a lack of ability to do simple math. Vote them out and let's get some qualified people in place that can save some real dollars and that can find real leaks in the system. I call for an outside finance group to come in and audit every aspect of our operation, trust me in that it would be money well spent.

For example, how much are we paying in operational costs (electricity, phone, internet, water) and can we put systems into place to cut costs there. How much paper are we using? How much are we paying support staff and custodial help? How about insurance, have we looked at every possible avenue for employee insurance and how we could save money there. Tweeking plans in just the most minor way can save tons of money. How are we staffing our classroom and events,and are we seeing data that proves that the way we are doing is actually working and increasing test scores. Every penny spent needs to be scrutinized...EVERY PENNY. Conference and travel money should NO LONGER exist for anyone, including board members. This is a luxury we can no long provide. Transportation is another huge expense and it needs to be completely overhauled. It's not only about looking at what we currently spend and finding ways to cut, it's looking for those areas that are "Leaking and oozing" money and fixing those leaks. Trust me, there is money to be found.

The board is a diverse and well put together group coming from different financial and academic background, and they well represent the community. They are not supposed to be unanimous on everything because we as a community are not unanimous on decisions, myself personally was very opposed to cutting the kindergarten program, but I understood something had to be cut. It was my child's school but I understood regardless of which school they chose. Those of you in past posts who have complained that some of the school board members shouldn't be on the board because they do not have children in the school district or because they are not educated are being ridiculous. A large part of our taxpaying community no longer has children in the school district, should their opinions no longer matter? A large part of out community did not attend a 4 year college. Their opinions are also not good enough for you correct? The board needs to be as diverse as it is because this is how the community is best represented.

This district is the home. Not any individual school. These teachers, this district is their home, and even if we did not close a school their is no guarantee that all these teachers would have remained at our school.Teachers move from school to school every year. The quality education lies not in the building but in the teacher and there is no way the school board is going to cut their top teachers.

@kelly, you said "We need to look within a start trimming that fat....restructure contracts with vendors, transportation, staffing, events, expenses for Admin should be cut". I have attended meetings it has been mentioned that these cuts are already on the table. So often you cannot open a contract in the middle of it.

Yes I would be okay with MD being a storage facility if that was what was best for our district and saved programs. Like I said before, I do not think they do know enough and should have waited a year and took the time to study what schools are the best to close, but that ship has sailed and we need to look towards the future and making future decisions that are good for the community. I get MD has high scores, but ask yourself why? Would they have the same test scores if they kept MD open and closed AH and sent all kids to MD and class sizes went from 15-18 to 20-22 like some of the other schools? Probably not, but they would still have really good test scores like the other schools. Why because WE HAVE GOOD PROGRAMS!!! Our district is good as a whole because of this. We need to keep that core and cutting programs like band, FDK, drama etc. will hurt the whole district. Closing a school will not hurt the whole district and kids will only react to what you as parents react to. If they are sad their school is closing it is b/c you as parents are making it an issue b/c I gurantee kids do not cry when they go from K to 1st to their new school or 4th to 5th at their new school. If you make it exciting just like you did that transistion the kids will be excited too. I still think there are lots of things that can be looked into that sadly, the board didn't do. Hopefully they will in the upcoming year.

I believe more investigation needs to be done before school closings happen. It doesn't sound to me like they thought much further than cut full day kindergarten and 2 school closings. Everybody I know including myself and my spouse have had to remain flexible in our jobs and have even lost money because of this recession. I also work for an insurance company and I pay more for health insurance than the teachers do. I value our teachers, they help mold my children into a well rounded individual. What good is that if we can't afford to educate them? I'm not saying let the teachers take the cut, but I do agree every penny needs to be looked at and accounted for. This is not going to be popular with the teachers in the area, but why shouldn't you negotiate in contract? Everyone else in this recession has! Let us pay more for extracurricular activities, raise the registration fees a bit. Is it smart to close a school that cost multiple millions of $$$ to renovate just a few years ago than to close one that is considerably older? The board has had some tuff decisions, but I knew back in 2006 that we were heading toward a recession why weren't we planning appropriately? Why isn't the board listening to all of the suggestions given? How is that financial committee coming along?

Here we go----Wow, what as surprise, another school district in trouble and now the students, parents and taxpayers have to pay the price. The real reason is unsustainable labor agreements and administrator contracts. Here are a few examples...27% total wage increase plus cost of living for teachers. 100% paid medical and dental coverage. 17 paid sick/personal days per year which can be accumulated and then cashed out upon retirement(pension padding) Up to 30% salary increase plus cost of living and normal raises prior to retirement (pension padding) Up to $12,500.00 one time cash payment last year working before retirement(pension padding). Administrators get all of this plus some get more. The list goes on and on and is the biggest reason for district 161's problems. Again it is UNSUSTAINABLE WITHOUT HUGH FEE AND TAX INCREASES AND CUTTING OF STUDENT ACTIVITIES OR SCHOOL CLOSINGS. Soon parents will be taking student loans to send their kids to elementary, middle and high school. To be continued...

Do think the board gets together and says"let's make decisions that will piss off the community and cause the most chaos".? Of course they don't! We may not agree with their decisions but I honestly think they do what they think is best!! They are not out to "get anyone". No matter what they have to cut, no one will be happy. It is aweful times.

Wow , I sure miss the days with Dr.Middleton.

I miss Dr. Middleton too. He was fair - NO drama

I agree that some major cuts have to be made and that they will not make everyone happy, but I don't think that Rains provided the board with enough detailed information to justify the closing of Mary Drew. And if two schools will ultimately need to be closed, why not wait until next year and handle all of the moving and redistricting at one time. In that time frame, the new finance director can determine all of the details of the savings and reach out to community colleges and the park district to see who may be interested in what buildings. All that was provided was the savings in staff reductions and overhead. What about the cost of moving, increases in transportation costs, ongoing maintenance of the building and grounds, etc.? I know the board is faced with very difficult decisions, I just wish that they would make those decisions based on good information. Mary, Denise, Denise & Joy thinking that Rains and Gerdes provided them with enough information is a problem in and of itself. They can't even recognize that the information that they were given wasn't complete.

As for MD, I believe that dividing that staff among the different schools will be a mistake. Klein was able to do something there that she wasn't able to do at Trail. They developed a synergy that is probably greater than the sum of its parts and if they get split up, they may not be able to recreate that success. And I say that without having any students at that school.

This decision was made to hastily, This was no different than fdk, part of why they voted to keep fd was because people weren't informed. How many of MD parents weren't informed of this. I agree, it was on the agenda to discuss closing a school. Nothing was mentioned about voting to close one. And again why MD? Is it fair now that Rogus and Indian Trail will be affected but Frankfort Square and Arbury won't be. When they changed the boundaries, kids from Arbury went to Rogus, why aren't those kids going back to Arbury? Fair is Fair! All of the facts should have been presented as to what school would be best to close. If after all the facts it was MD then so be it, but I don't think that would be the consensus. The fact that Mary Kenny wouldn't even look at the ideas the board came up with was wrong. She said flat out last night that she wanted MD closed. Her personal agenda, not the best interest for the district, and Joy is just the puppet and agrees. Kudos to George, Sean and Stacey for asking for the data! It is sad that questions weren't addressed and answers given to the community. Barb says she takes her direction from the board, and the board says they take their direction from the superintendent. So I guess nothing gets accomplished this way. Every avenue should have been looked at before this decision was made. They acted in haste! Have they once ever asked the teachers what they can cut in their own schools? NO! Again, get all facts before a decision is made!

Of course the board and the superintendent are the only ones who know about the boundaries! They are the only ones with the secret info... the info the public does not even get to see or hear about!! Stop sticking up for these people. They know what they are doing, and when election time comes believe me the community will be there!!! Mark my words they had plans for Mary Drew all along!! 843 will take it!! They didnt want Square or Trail! Its a shame, bring on the elections!

Yes it was.

@Are you kidding me? Are you honestly suggesting closing another school with a population as large as Rogus (minus a few kids)? I'm sorry but thats insane. We will definately see class sizes increase. That would be ALOT of kids to redistribute and will definately affect class sizes.

As much as I love the blue jays, and Mrs. Klein is a phenomenal principal, Arliss is an amazing staff member, I know that we can move forward from this and the day that the board cuts a fantastic administrator like Klein is when I will loose truly faith in this district.

Also all of our schools are scoring between 91 and 98 percent. Notice all schools running at 40 percent occupancy are the highest scorers...coincidence I think not. You are splitting hairs over 7 percentage points. These are all amazing scores and it is because of our high academic standards not because "Mary Drew makes our district looks good". Cut this programs and all children in our district suffer. Is that really more important than a couple of schools scoring a few percentage points higher than the rest of the schools in the district. I honestly think that is a sad view point.

@letsbehonest, I am not jumping to conclusions. I am going with the facts. Mary Drew consisted of kids from Rogus and Indian Trail. So that is where those kids will go back to, There was no mention of changing the boundaries for any other school. So how am I jumping to conclusions, and spewing out information. I have been at these board meetings. I agree with Kelly this is a place to discuss how we feel not to have someone try to belittle you. I would not put something on here that wasn't true. Have you ever heard them talk about moving kids to other schools other than Rogus, IT and Mary Drew, NO! It has never been mentioned to move kids to Arbury or Frankfort Square. I am not saying that they may not change their minds, but it was never discussed. There is so much that hasn't been discussed!!!!! This is the exact reason why MD should not be closed. The data/facts have not been discussed! That is the issue here, that a decision was made without having all of the facts compiled. I also thought that it was interesting that no where on the agenda did it specifically say that they were discussing the Closing of a school. It only said planning for the future. How dishonest!!!!! If it was on the agenda or people knew that a school was definately being closed last night, that room would have been packed with people from all schools. That was just conveniently not put on the agenda. Again, shame on them!!!!

If you were at that meeting on Wed, Mary Kenny specifically stated that she never wanted Mary Drew open and wanted it closed. She said she would close it now if she could! Tell me that isn't a personal agenda?

I absolutely think this decision was done in haste! Barb even said at the meeting that they have 3 years and a drastic decision didn't have to be made. I don't think all of the facts were presented to the community, and that is the sad part. We put our trust in these people to be honest and make the right decisions. I just think there have been too many times that wrong decisions have been made because these issues haven't been discussed and research hasn't been done!

I am not sure how everyone knows exactly how these kids will be split up and placed when I received the following e-mail from Rains:

"Following the announcement of the closure of Mary Drew School last night, several questions are surfacing about where current Mary Drew School students will be attending school next fall. I will continue to collect questions from parents and staff through the rest of this week and then develop a Q&A over the weekend to be e-mailed to the entire school community on Monday morning. In the meantime, I appreciate your patience as we move through this process."

Bottom line board voted on something passed and really doesn't have a plan in place yet. How can they feel good about themselves leaving these poor childern and families in limbo? Nobody should pass judgement on how these childern are feeling unless you are in their shoes. Just like adults all childern will react differently.

Ok, so we are going to close a school that is up to code? Does that mean the other schools are not? Our children are housed in a school that is not up to code and no one is alarmed by this? The board has not used our money wisely and continues to make rushed decisions. We do need an outside consultant to review where the money is/going. Indian Trails needs $1 million in improvements. Is there going to be an open bid? I read the Mary Drew recon was $39 million . . . who padded their pockets there? Something stinks around here. Are we going to rehab another building that will be closed next year? Stop the board before they waste more of our money!

@hugetxbill, $39 million to recon Mary Drew...next time research your facts

this is outstanding! i've got my popcorn, keep this going please!

Taxpayer---- the key word is "Common Sense". According to the e-mail sent by Rains herself boundary and school assigment has not been set in stone.

@actions speak louder than words - Of course NOT, the decision was made Wednesday...do you think she has a magic wand. Alot of posters on this blog are unreasonable.

@Connie, anyone can gather a petition....it's not a secret the board has been given several petitions over the past few months. It's becoming standard practice of this community...petitions mean nothing, doesn't seem like the board pays attention to them.

Since they choose to ignore recent petitions...maybe we should (maybe someone already has) to have certain board members impeached.

@Are you kidding me? ".maybe we should (maybe someone already has) to have certain board members impeached."

REALLY? Are you freaking serious? Go ahead Einstein, get busy....you have an assignment your job is to spearhead your wonderful idea we'll sit back and see how far you get.

@tracy, @donny and @Kelly Meister, any more room on that couch? We have a new reality TV drama to enjoy "The Impreachment of the Summit Hill school board"....I'll bring my own popcorn.

For those interested: (sure hope they keep "all" records)

Requirements of the Illinois Open Meetings Act (School Board Meetings)
http://www.iasb.com/law/schboardmeetings2010.pdf

Requirements of the Illinois Freedom of Information Act (School Board Records)
http://www.iasb.com/law/schboardrecords2010.pdf

I have a feeling that if you were successful at impeaching any of the board members, they would happily hand over their seat to you - then you can be ostracised for the tough decisions, or have your 'friends' try to influence your decision or talk smack behind your back about what they thought you would do, or assume you took the postion because you have some sinister agenda or are receiving kickbacks. The upside to that would be that you could see first hand the real mess that has led us here. No one wants to hear the board say that we're in this mess because of decisions made by previous boards or Mr. Pain. I find this laughable. Everyone is now paying attention but only to things that will effect them. There's a big picture here people - it consists of 3400 students. Our educational programs need our focus. I'm sad that any building is being closed. But we need to be realiztic about what we're facing. Hiring attorneys - yes, not the best kept secret ever - will only further hurt the district. So money that would be spent on the kids will now be spent on attorney fees. Kudos to whoever came up with that one. Looks like we'll have to pass a referrendum to pay for our legal fees rather than programs that are good for the kids. You all realize that anyone considering moving to this district can just google 161 & see the hot mess & complete lack of facts & assumptions...it's this childish behavior that makes us all look bad.

@ Rose, you are correct, this district is in a hot mess and no one will move into this area. Hence the reason that this school board should have had all of their facts in place and presented everything to the community before a decision was made. Who will move into this area knowing that they make these hasty decisions. It absolutely makes us all look bad. These decisions are tearing apart out community instead of bring us together.

Rose, I think we can all agree that previous administrations lack of planning have contributed our current crisis. That being said, this board has also spent carelessly-the most obvious example would be the ISS teachers. Even more glaring than the wasteful spending is the lack of planning. We should have been looking for answers to the budget issues long before December. At the last meeting it was announced that the HW Principal will be retiring early. Many in the community feel the the board will not offer a contract to the Principal of Frankfort Square, (she also may choose to retire early) or the SHJH Principal, I believe both of these women are tenured and will have to be offered jobs within our district. Does anyone know what the early retirements will cost our district? Are any other administrators considering the early retirement option?
The largest line on my tax bill goes to Summit Hill District 161- I have the right to complain!

Good Morning Everyone,
I am happy that the Board has heard your concerns by your persistence and I hope all the issues will be addressed prior to re-voting.
Is anyone thinking of how this would impact the Mary Drew Kids?
ILast week, the Principal held an assembly to inform the students of MD pending closure. If the Board votes differently now having to tell students that their school isn't closing after all.
This confusing and mixed message causes them to feel unsafe.This tells them that the authority figures in their life arn't trustworthy(Board and Administration vs.the Mary Drew community).This dynamic happens in dysfunctional families and it is called splitting!
My message to parents who are meeting to give a "united" front.
I am asking you to fight fair as you are a part of the district community and your agenda will impact all of us. Please BE RESPECTFUL of our elected officials and especially BE RESPECTFUL at the special meeting.(talk of impeachment, news media,getting the state involved,filing a grievance,shouting during Board meetings,storming out, interrupting, accusing and being unkind.)
I personally will not be present at the special meeting on Tues., I do not want to get emotionally upset and lose sleep because of potential inappropriate outbursts and disruptive behavior from community members!
Would you expose your child to a potentially volatile Board meeting? I would not!

Well said Stella. So, I say to everyone going to protest the closing of MD, I sure do hope you have a better plan then closing schools, and present that to the board. Going to the board meeting, and listing why you think closing MD isn't going to fill the 3mil. hole we are in. Not a single school is at capacity or close to it. Schools need to be closed. Fighting to keep MD open, and closing a different school is only going to shift the anger to another set of parents, and upset another group of kids. So if they change their mind and keep MD open, then what? This craziness needs to end. Parents of this community need to come together for the sake of our children.
Our Board needs to make tough decisions which are not going to make everyone happy. The Board isn't closing schools to be spiteful, or to purposly tick of the community, they are doing it because its necessary. What I hope to gain out of going to the meeting is learning as to WHY MD was chosen, and what their plan for that empty school, anything more than that is a bonus.

@Tracy, I also understand that your petition isn't about higher taxes. Others have suggested that, and that is the route the Board will try and go THIS YEAR if true cuts are not made.

Taxpayer, well said on all points AND for being respectful while posting. This crusade to keep Mary Drew open will not help our district. Mary Drew has been open for 4 years. The students will go to the schools they were originally zoned for. Something has to give. Cutting activities, specials and raising fees does NOT benefit ALL children in the district.

Just remember, this will affect every student and every school in our community. Don't think because your school is not closing that they will not increase class size. they will be filling class sizes to guidelines. So across the board 1-4 class sizes are going to be higher. I am not a fan of a referendum, but again, I would rather pay a few extra hundred dollars on my tax bill that to have more kids in a class and pay more in all of the fees. You have multiple kids in multiple clubs etc, you will wind up paying more than the referendum. Also, remember they may not be done, who is to say that they don't close a school next year again, and all of our kids get moved to another school. So for some kids, that is 3-4 schools just for elementary school. I don't want to see programming cut either. I just think it is easier to swallow a referendum before a school closes than after a school closes. Something to think about. Please come to the meeting tonight, again, it's about everyone of us in this community. Don't think because your school wasn't on the chopping block it won't be affected. It is sad that it has come to this, but it will get worse before it gets better!

Class sizes will increase to the guidelines at all schools. Gone are the days of 17, 18, 20 in a class. They will be moving kids to the buildings that have lower class sizes. Some won't be affected because they already have the max in their classes, but for those schools that don't have as many kids, the class sizes will increase. This will fill rooms, and cut back on teachers. So while we have all of these empty class rooms, remember those also include the science labs, music rooms and art rooms. I don't want to see my kids get less of a music class or art class because the teacher doesn't have a classroom to teach in. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to be a displaced teacher. Yes, there are rooms at all schools, but again, they are cutting staff, and that means classes will be at the guidelines.

@Connie -- How do you have so much information about what is going to happen? Do you have a friend on the board or have you talked to Mrs. Rains? Was this in the handouts because I thought the last model that was presented said they weren't going to raise class sizes to guidelines (25 for 1st & 2nd, 27 for 3rd and 4th)? Inquiring minds would like to know so if you can point me to where I can check out this info I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

I spoke directly with Barb Rains regarding the additional rooms. They DONOT include music, science, art rooms, computer rooms, specials etc. Those rooms are spoken for. What she has listed on her chart, of how many classrooms are available at each school, are accurate according to her. Also, the only schools that have such low class sizes are Aubury Hills and FS. The only school that will see class sizes increase should be FS. AH will remain small. Not sure where your child goes to school but Rogus, IT, and MD have around 20-23 students in a class. This is the norm. 16-18 kids in a class is what private schools offer, not a public school. I don't mean this in a mean way, and I do feel bad for any teacher that needs to be let go but I'm sorry, so many people in our district have lost their jobs, and are struggling to make ends meet. The unemployed in our community cannot continue to pay out of their ears,and make sacrifices just to keep some teachers employed. This economy sucks, and most who have a job realize that at any given moment, you could be let go for cost saving reasons. This is just a fact of life nowadays

Sorry for the error, I ment to say that All special classrooms are included in Barbs chart. The additional classrooms she has listed is what is actually available.

@Taxpayer and @Joe Vince -- thanks for the information. It is so confusing trying to dissect everyone's comments to figure out what is fact and what is he said/she said information. BTW, my daughter went to FS last year and there were 26 kids in her 4th grade class. Also, I know for a fact that there are 20-22 kids in each 3rd and 4th grade class this year but I'm not sure about 1st and 2nd. Hopefully there will be more factual information coming soon from the district. Again, my thanks.