Archive for March 26th, 2011

“High school parents dig deep to give kids a home-field advantage
With district strapped for cash, South Elgin High’s booster club has raised $500,000 to begin work on athletic stadium”

Here is a great quote:

“Cheryl Latsonas said the district had never had enough money for its daily operations, and she doubted that it ever would. An on-campus stadium, she said, would have a value beyond the balance sheet.

“This will create a connection with the school and really build team spirit,” she said. “(Athletes) want to play for the school at the school.”"

I cannot think of a better education lesson for all of the kids to show them the value of money, hard work, community organizing, and what it truly means to live in a democracy. Good luck to the parents at South Elgin High in raising enough money. Into the future, after the new stadium is finished, it would be interesting to compare it to other high school stadiums to see if folks in South Elgin keep it cleaner and less damaged than other stadiums. There should be a sense of ownership–the stadium will be theirs, more like their own homes.

Reduction in Force Outcomes

DeKalb’s FY2011 budget included a Reduction in Force (RIF) plan to close a budget gap of a couple million. Here is how it played out for about a dozen AFSCME union members who got laid off as part of the RIF in June 2010.

DateEventDocumentation
7/13/2009Council approves a side letter to its contract with AFSCME outlining wage concessions in exchange for a promise of no layoffs through the end of the contract expiring 12/31/2010.7/13 meeting minutes


4/7/2010Voluntary Separation Program (VSP) portion of the Reduction in Force (RIF) is offered to eligible employees. Deadline for signup is 5/25, after which layoffs would be made to achieve budgetary goals for FY2011.4/5 special meeting minutes
6/9/2010City follows through on layoffs. HR notifies affected AFSCME employees they would “not be eligible for unemployment until after your two (2) weeks [sic] severance, following your made whole date of December 31, 2010” presumably because they'll be receiving full regular compensation through that date.Daily Chronicle articles 6/9 & 6/10

+ notification to affected employees

(see below)
6/28/2010Approval of FY2011 budget & staffing plan. 6/28 meeting minutes
8/20/2010HR notifies affected AFSCME employees that they do not have to wait until 2011 to apply for unemployment after all; they meet eligibility by being neither on-call nor actively reporting for work.Notifications to affected employees

+ IL Department of Employment Security (IDES)

(see below)
11/19/2010City reimburses IDES for 3rd Quarter unemployment compensation totaling $50,428.IDES invoice mailed 10/23

+ city check register entries
1/28/2011City reimburses IDES for 4th Quarter unemployment compensation totaling $42,394.IDES invoice mailed 1/22

+ city check register entries

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