Tagged: layoffs

Administrators of a southwestern Illinois school district say financial problems have forced them to lay off or not renew the contracts of 71 employees, including more than five dozen teachers.

Cahokia School District 187's board made the move during a special meeting Monday night.

The laid-off workers include 62 teachers, two teachers' aides, a school psychologist and a social worker.

St. Louis firefighters were told last week that they'd be subject to 30 layoffs. Yesterday, Comptroller Darlene Green said she would push a plan to furlough firefighters instead of laying them off.

Today, as the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports, the firefighters have responded.

The Cahokia School Board will meet tonight to decide whether to lay off up to 70 teachers because of a budget deficit.

School officials have said that lower tax revenues and delayed state payments have left Cahokia's budget about $1 million in the red. Brent Murphy, president of the Cahokia Federation of Teachers, says he hopes that reducing instructors and other staff is not the only solution.