In response to overall projected enrollment increases in the upcoming 2024-25 school year, Naperville School District 203 officials are proposing a 12.67 full-time equivalency increase in staffing, according to a recent proposal from officials.
The proposal, unveiled at a board of education meeting on Monday, March 4, is based on population projections across all grade levels and schools in the year ahead, based on the data currently available.
“Historically, every March administration reviews enrollment information, specialized program placement information, and other data across the district to provide a staffing projection onto the board of education for the coming year,” Superintendent Dan Bridges said at the recent meeting.
A look across grade levels, schools when considering staffing increase
District 203 is planning increases across all grade levels, except early childhood, where staffing could be reduced from 26 FTE positions this year to 22 FTE positions in the upcoming school year.
An additional 7.1 FTE teaching positions could be added to elementary schools, an additional 2.17 FTE positions at junior high schools and 4.4 FTE positions at high schools. Within student services at the district level, administrators are proposing an additional 3 FTE positions.
If the current scenario plays out, District 203 will employ a total of 1,597.37 FTE positions across its footprint, up from the 1,584.69 FTEs on record this school year.
Based on the numbers crunched at shared at the recent meeting, District 203 officials are projecting an annual fiscal impact of $1.1 million from the staffing additions.
‘Multiple factors’ are part of the process
While the mathematic numbers associated with enrollment projections and class sizes play a pivotal part of staffing recommendations, District 203 administrators emphasized it is just one component of the process.
“Multiple things go into place,” Bridges said. “Through our evaluation process, we look at student performance, how kids are doing, the success of the programs and make recommendations to the board.”
He added, “Financial considerations are also a part of that, too. Every staff position that is added has long-term cost to the district. It’s not just a simple decision. There are multiple factors that go into it.”
The current proposal also is not the be all-end all to considering staffing adjustments in the upcoming school year in District 203. Further administrative recommendations, not related to enrollment, could come down the pike this summer when the 2024-2025 school year budget is hashed over and adopted.
“I’m not prepared to discuss that yet this evening,” Bridges said. “We’re still in the early stages of the budgeting process, but there are opportunities to recommend staff initiatives.”
The board could vote on the population-related staffing plan for the 2024-2025 school year at its next meeting on Monday, March 18.
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