Hinsdale Township HSD 86 HR committee reviews SY2027 staffing plan, proposes net -3.8 certified FTE amid debate over counselors, course cuts and transportation

At the March 3 HR committee meeting of the Board of Education of Hinsdale Township High School District 86, administrators presented a preliminary SY2027 certified staffing recommendation that would reduce certified staffing by a net 3.8 full-time equivalent positions, and they reviewed course-by-course sectioning and low-enrollment decisions.

The presentation traced the staffing timeline from November program-of-studies work through February sectioning tallies pulled from Infinite Campus. Administrators said the Feb. 9 tallies showed small projected enrollment declines: roughly 19 fewer students at Hinsdale Central and about 66 fewer at Hinsdale South compared with the current year, while noting typical last-minute enrollments historically add roughly 50–60 students at the start of the year.

Public commenter Kim Naro opened the meeting’s public-comment period, urging the district to “be creative on finding ways to increase our population,” and citing lifeguarding as an example: “When lifeguarding was open to sophomores, we had 80 to 90 kids a year at Central,” she said, urging changes to course cadences and attention to how department-chair FTE reductions have shifted teachers out of classrooms.

Administrators summarized program adjustments proposed for next year: a small decrease in Central (presenters described roughly -2.0 FTE), a reduction at South (about -1.6 FTE), a modest TC (Transition Center) adjustment (about -0.2 FTE), and some reallocations in direct-support roles (for example, Excel at South proposed +0.2 FTE because student choice enrollment increased). The presenters emphasized that many certified staffing changes flow directly from student course requests and sectioning outcomes.

The committee reviewed lists of courses under the district’s 15-request framework and those administrators recommend running despite low requests (many are capstone or AP-level opportunities). Central’s proposed below-framework run list totaled nine courses (down from 12 last year); South proposed 28 such sections (up from 23). Administrators also described courses they propose not to run, and said they will follow up with affected students (for example, suggesting yearbook or semester journalism as alternatives to a year-long journalism course).

Several instructional programs and logistics drew extended discussion. Administrators said a survey showed interest in an orchestra offering but that only one student formally chose orchestra during registration; the committee discussed transportation and scheduling options — including shuttles, travel during a lunch window, and aligning periods to limit lost instructional time — if programs run at one campus but students from the other campus want to attend. The Latin program was also discussed: presenters said Latin I requests were initially near 10 on Feb. 9 and later recorded at nine, with a mix of freshmen and upperclass students among those requests.

A major point of debate centered on counseling and other student-facing supports. Administrators presented options that would maintain current counselor totals (12 and 6 across campuses, respectively) but noted upcoming retirements. Committee members expressed concern about student-to-counselor ratios if counseling positions are not refilled: presenters cited example ratios if certain positions were not rehired (Central ~218:1; South ~242:1 under one scenario). Several members said they would prefer to avoid reductions to counseling and recommended the administration explore other below-the-line efficiencies instead.

Board members asked for additional detail before making a binding recommendation: requested follow-ups included dean and social-worker ratios, the class-size used to compute 70% fill-rate analyses, a clearer break-out of which below-the-line roles are student-facing versus building-support, and updated TC enrollment estimates that account for typical midyear attrition. Administrators confirmed they would add a class-size column to the fill-rate slide, provide the requested ratios and additional options for below-the-line reductions, and update numbers for the March 12 full-board meeting.

Procedurally, the committee approved the February 3 HR committee minutes by roll call before proceeding. At the end of the public portion, the committee moved into closed session under cited statutory language for personnel and collective-negotiation matters.

What’s next: the district will post the draft presentation for public view; the comprehensive memo will remain draft for board-only updates and will be revised ahead of the March 12 board meeting, when HR’s recommendation and the specific allocation of any FTE reductions will be considered.

Attribution: Direct quotes and paraphrases in this report come from the meeting transcript. The public comment quote is from Kim Naro. Other presentation material and numbers were provided by district administrators during the committee discussion.