ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — A large district in St. Charles County is considering some big cuts. The Board of Education for the Francis Howell School District is set to vote Thursday on a proposal to cut staff in hopes of saving nearly $7 million.
The plan was first presented to the board in January. It’s described by the district as an aggressive approach that will likely increase class size. The district’s Chief Human Resources Officer Lisa Simpkins told the board on Jan. 21 that the proposed cuts would likely mean certain programs will be eliminated or reduced.
The proposal, which is for the 2021-22 school year, calls for eliminating 68 teaching positions, four administrator jobs and about 80 support staff positions.
The district said at its last meeting that it hopes to cover most of the cuts through attrition and not layoffs. Several support staff positions on the chopping block are currently vacant. As for the teaching positions in question, Simpkins told the board that the district needs to factor in retirement and resignations before determining how many layoffs are needed.
When asked why the school district is considering the cuts in the first place, Communications Director Jennifer Jolls sent 5 On Your Side the following statement:
"Our revenues have not kept pace with our expenditures. We went out for a tax levy three times in recent years and unfortunately, none of the levies passed. We’ve also approved pay raises for our staff and have faced larger than expected increases in our cost of benefits. And then of course, the impacts of COVID have also hurt us. A combination of all of these factors put us in a budget deficit that we must address to ensure the financial stability of the District for years to come."