KENWOOD — Things were calm as the Kenwood Academy Local School Council passed a budget Tuesday night that included no layoffs and no new teachers.
“This is a good year for us, no complaints,” said Principal Gregory Jones after the local school council passed the more than $11 million budget for next year.
Last year, Kenwood Academy, 5015 S. Blackstone Ave., faced laying off teachers as its budget was slashed by $1.2 million as enrollment swelled beyond the capacity of the school.
The school was expected to enroll 1,859 students last year when the budget was cut. In the budget passed Tuesday, the school is projected to enroll 1,750, above the school’s 1,646-student capacity.
For Jones, a projected decline in enrollment came as good news. The school is budgeted to get an additional $118,000 to teach fewer students.
“We don’t have to cut any positions and we don’t have to add any positions,” Jones said.
As other schools scramble to meet new physical education requirements mandated by Chicago Public Schools, Kenwood is already ahead of the curve. The school added an anatomy course last year that satisfies the new standards.
Jones said the school is also planning to spend $25,000 to expand the orchestra program from one section to three.
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