Cindy Ward, Kankakee Valley Post-News Editor

    To a standing-room-only crowd Monday night, the Kankakee Valley School Board voted unanimously to give Superintendent Glenn Krueger the authority to begin a Reduction In Force (RIF) of KV teachers. Barb Deardorff of the KVSC teachers' union read a statement during the patron comment portion of the meeting. As Deardorff announced barging will resume March 11, the seemingly teacher-packed room filled with applause.

    The possible RIF is coming as a result of Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels' slashing of state agency funds, higher education funds and $300 million from the K-12 education budget. For KVSC, that has translated to a nearly $1 million dollar budget cut. The school corporation administrators and the teachers' union representatives have been in discussions since the state's December announcement that funds would be cut. The talks intensified in January when KVSC was notified what the exact dollar amount would be for their corporation.

    All other areas supported by the general fund have been cut by the school board. Classified workers took cuts of holiday pay and loss of overtime saving the school corporation $170,000 and saving peoples' jobs. The administration took a voluntary 4 percent cut saving jobs and $69,000. Plus retiring Business Director Bill Orsburn's job will be not be filled, saving $83,000. That totals $322,000 in cuts. It leaves about $677,000 to trim from the school's general fund budget. Under current law funds can not be moved from other categories into the general fund.

    As others were taking cuts, teachers were asked to take a four percent pay cut, but the teachers' union negotiating team at KV declined the offer. 

    On Feb. 23 letters were sent out to 31 KV teachers notifying them that their positions may be in jeopardy. The letter, according to Krueger, specified that this was unofficial notification. At that time the school board had not yet given Krueger the authority to begin firing teachers.

    But now Krueger does have the authority to begin cutting teaching jobs. Some of the jobs reportedly on the chopping block are art, physical education, family and consumer science, industrial technology, business, computers, reading specialist, guidance counseling, and media specialist.

    Preliminary examinations of the effect of 30 possible job losses, according to Deardorff, show class sizes may increase to 35 students, and class times may have to be extended to 75 minutes in the junior high. In high school art is need for an academic honors diploma, and P.E. is required for all freshmen. And middle school students need to meet a computer requirement.