D122 Makes Personnel Changes, Honors Teams

Although state funding has forced the New Lenox school district to reduce personnel over the last eight years, administrators said Wednesday that there won't be a reduction in force for certified staff this year.

Instead, District 122 will be releasing a part-time special education teacher, but that's because of a decrease in enrollment and not because of needed cuts.

"That's pretty typical for a part-time position," Manville said.

The school board also approved an "honorable dismissal" of technology teacher Ann Magdziasz. Glenda Fahey, who currently works out of the district office as the instructional technology coordinator, will fill the position at Martino.

Supt. Mike Sass said in a news release that move is part of "continuing efforts to provide more efficient delivery of services at a reduced cost."

In contrast, , though retirements and other moves resulted in just one teacher being terminated.

Another teacher was dismissed based on performance.

he following teachers will retire at the end of this school year: Barb James (Oakview); Linda Parker (Oakview); Sue Reyelts (Tyler/Bentley); Janet Toepke (Haines); David Ulstad (Bentley); and Diane Wilson (Nelson Prairie).

AM/PM Kindergarten: Now that all kindergarten classes will be housed in Spencer Trail, the district needed to redo its boundaries to determine AM and PM classes. Students in the old Spencer boundary will attend the AM session, and those in the Cherry Hill boundary will be in the PM session. A full list can be found on the district website.

Technology Lease: The board approved a technology lease agreement for an annual cost of $385,692. This is already covered in the leasing/hardware acquisition budget. It allows the district to bring in brand new computers for teachers and students.

Building Projects: A bid was awarded to Replacement Window Systems for $154,118 to pay for the replacement windows at Bentley School, which was high on the district's priority list of building projects. The board also authorized the district to go forward with a grant application to receive $50,000 from the state for school maintenance. The district would put the money toward the $962,302 project to replace the water piping at Bentley.

Teams Honored: Liberty Junior High sent two teams to state this year: the eighth-grade boys basketball team, which placed fourth in state, and the seventh-grade girls volleyball team, which finished in the top eight. Both made school history by winning sectionals for the first time.