Naperville Community Unit School District 203 is proposing to cut about 97 certified staff positions for the 2026-27 school year as it works to close a projected $12.4 million budget deficit.
The school board is expected to vote on the proposal March 16.
The plan calls for a 6.7% reduction in administrative staffing, from 104 full-time equivalent positions this school year to 97 next fall, a cut of seven positions. It also proposes a 5.7% reduction in certified educator positions, from 1,567 to 1,477 FTEs, amounting to 90 positions.
Superintendent Dan Bridges said district leaders hope most of the reductions can be achieved through attrition, including retirements and resignations, rather than layoffs.
“We all recognize the strength of what we do comes from the people who serve our students every single day,” Bridges said. “We recognize the discussions about staffing can create some uncertainty and stress, which I know they have. The work our staff does for our students each day matters deeply, and the care they bring is what makes this district special.”
To help offset the impact, the board approved a one-time enhanced retirement incentive agreement Monday with the Naperville Education Support Professionals Association (NUEA). Eligible employees with at least 15 years of continuous service who submit an irrevocable notice of retirement before the start of the 2026-27 school year may receive a stipend ranging from $800 to $1,200, depending on years of service.
Last month, the board also approved a one-time retirement incentive agreement with the NUEA, allowing eligible teachers to receive full retirement insurance benefits if they retire this year without meeting previous notification deadlines.
“I’m up every night thinking about this because we value everyone,” school board member Holly Blastic said. “I recognize we do have to do something. We don’t want this hanging over our heads year after year. That weighs on families, and that weighs on staff.”
In addition to workforce reductions, administrators are reviewing discretionary spending and operational efficiencies, including consolidating software platforms, reducing travel expenses, cutting department and building budgets, and bringing certain services in-house. Officials estimate the proposed changes could reduce the deficit by nearly $4 million.
Even with those reductions, the district’s five-year financial forecast projects continued challenges. The deficit could grow to $14.8 million in fiscal year 2027-28 and nearly $18.5 million in fiscal year 2028-29 if no additional action is taken. By fiscal year 2029-30, reserve funds would be depleted, according to district projections.
Katie Matthews, Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Schools, said enrollment has declined by about 875 students over the past 12 years, while the district added more than 185 certified staff positions during that time.
District officials said one-time federal pandemic relief funds and higher-than-usual investment income helped sustain elevated staffing levels in recent years, but those funds have since expired. Administrators said the proposed reductions are intended to return staffing to sustainable pre-pandemic levels while minimizing the impact on students. No program eliminations are planned under the current proposal.
“Many positions were added as part of our pandemic response,” Bridges said in an email to staff on Feb. 11. “These roles were funded by one-time federal relief grants that have now expired. Without the federal funding, and with fewer students in our buildings, we are at the point where we must realign our staffing to match our current enrollment.”
During public comment at Monday’s Board meeting, Kelly Scotti, a 20-year district employee at Beebe Elementary School, urged board members to reconsider how staffing decisions are made.
“It is now gravely important to look beyond the foregone conclusion of staff reduction by analyzing and implementing best practice opportunities designed to meet the varying needs of our students and schools as we move forward,” Scotti said. “Specifically, District 203 students would benefit most from a plan that provides staff allocation based on each school’s needs rather than each school’s attendance roster.”
Scotti said she has worked as a classroom assistant, a LEAP tutor for seven years and, for the past 12 years, as an instructional assistant in first and second grade.
“Needless to say, I have witnessed a great deal of growth and change over these years,” she said. “Our team’s greatest desire is to maintain our current trajectory, but in order to best divide and conquer, we need hands-on deck, small class sizes, and appropriately placed assistants for optimal differential learning opportunities.”
In addition to staffing changes and spending reductions, district officials are pursuing other measures aimed at stabilizing finances, including adjustments to certain student fees where permitted under state law.
On Monday, the board revisited a proposed driver’s education fee waiver after a previous application approved in January was deemed incomplete by the Illinois State Board of Education because the time of the required public hearing was not included in letters sent to local representatives.
Illinois School Code allows districts to charge up to $250 for a driver’s education course fee. If the District desires to charge above this amount, they must make an application to the State Legislature for a waiver to the school code.
The district first applied and was approved for the waiver with a $400 maximum for 2017-2021, and it was renewed for 2022-2026 at the same amount. Administration has written a new waiver application that would allow the school board to set the fee up to $500 for the 2027-2031 school years.
“The request for the change is being driven by increases in salary and hourly rates for staff resulting from the recent contract as well as the requirement for us to purchase our own vehicles where they had been donated in the past,” the agenda documents state.