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District 97 outlines tentative staffing plan, earlier registration windows to improve planning
Summary
District staff presented a tentative staffing plan that ties staffing projections to earlier registration targets and demographic forecasting; the district said no reduction-in-force is expected this year.
District 97 administrators presented a tentative staffing plan and a registration timeline at the board meeting Jan. 14, tying teacher and classroom staffing to earlier enrollment data and Casarda demographic projections for kindergarten.
Assistant superintendent and staffing leads described a methodology that projects enrollment by cohort, applies maximum section sizes (K: 20; grades 1-5: 24; grades 6-8: 29) and adjusts for special-education splits and bilingual-class ratios. The district said it expects its total core-instruction full-time-equivalent staffing needs to remain broadly consistent for the 2025-26 school year and that, based on current projections, it does not expect to implement a reduction-in-force (RIF) this year. Staff stressed the plan remains tentative and depends on continuing registration and eligibility data.
Timing: district teams expect to finalize the staffing plan once registration settles; March projections will be used to finalize teaching-assistant allocations and April will be the target to present leadership-role proposals to the board. Notices of assignment for teaching staff are scheduled for April with final TA assignments and leadership confirmations by May.
Registration: the registration team said it will post new-student registration Feb. 19 and returning-student registration Feb. 26, narrowing the window compared with prior years to get earlier, higher-integrity data. The team described a central residency verification workflow and said centralized processing improves consistency; the district aims for 90% of registrations completed by April 15 and 95% by summer.
Other points: district staff discussed the mechanics of possible RIF procedure under Illinois school code and said that while districts may elect to use formal RIF timelines, the district is not pursuing an RIF this cycle. Staff also noted the role of MTSS, bilingual and early-childhood staffing in how totals are calculated.
Ending: District officials said updated enrollment numbers will be presented in coming months and that earlier registration will feed staffing, facilities and program decisions for SY 2025-26.
