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Community speakers urge board to keep upper-level science courses as staffing cuts loom
Summary
Teachers, support staff and students urged the Effingham CUSD 40 board to reconsider eliminating a high-school science position, warning that cuts would force loss of courses such as Chemistry II, physics and anatomy and reduce hands-on learning opportunities.
Several community members and students told the Effingham CUSD 40 board on March 2026 that eliminating a high-school science teaching position would harm advanced course offerings and long-term student outcomes.
Nori Nault, a district teacher of 30 years, told the board the posted science position would be allowed to go unfilled and eliminated through attrition. She said reducing the high-school science staff to four teachers would make it difficult to continue upper-level classes including Chemistry II, environmental science, physics and anatomy and physiology. Nault cited the National Science Teaching Association and said its guidance recommends science classes be limited to about 24 students to ensure adequate supervision and workspace during lab activities.
"The long lasting effects...to only 4 science teachers is detrimental to all of our students, but especially to our best and brightest," Nault said, urging trustees to reconsider the staffing decision.
Cheryl Walker, president of the Effingham Education Support Professionals Association, also addressed the board about contract negotiations and rising health insurance costs, saying some support staff now bring home paychecks below $10 and urging fair bargaining on both language and financial terms.
Students spoke directly to the potential classroom impact. Max Greenwood, an Effingham High School senior, said upper-level science classes had challenged him and helped set his career path; he asked trustees to weigh the effect cuts would have on future students' college and career readiness. Another senior, Taylor, described how cuts to fine-arts and elective positions diminish opportunities for students who rely on those programs for engagement and belonging.
Board members heard the testimony but took no immediate action during the public-comment period. The district's administration later presented a set of staffing and budget proposals as part of ongoing new-business discussion; trustees set a motion to enter closed session later in the meeting to discuss personnel and related matters.
The board did not vote on eliminating the specific science position during this public meeting; next procedural steps were not announced on the record.
