Incoming Superintendent: Budget Passage is "Vote of Confidence"

Following the passage of the budget Tuesday night by a vote of 4,309 to 1,961, deputy superintendent Cheryl Pedisich, who will begin on July 1, called the positive result "a vote of confidence from the public."

She said while the transition in leadership may be eased now that the budget has passed, the district will still need to make major adjustments in light of the staffing reductions that have been made.

Among those 109 full-time equivalent positions that have been cut: that parents fear will threaten the quality of education in those schools, along with approximately 45 teachers and paraprofessionals, 25 monitors, 10 teaching assistants, 14 clerical and maintenance workers, and 8 security guards.

"When you consider how many staff members have lost their jobs, that's upsetting," Pedisich said. "There are programs that will not be the same as they have been in the past. We will have to look at how we are able to address the needs differently than we have done in the past."

But Pedisich, who first started her career in Three Village as a guidance counselor 28 years ago, said she believes the district will still thrive.

"We are a district that has had deficits in the past and we have always prevailed," she said. "I am confident that we will pull ourselves together and move forward and do the best that we can."