Budget Deficit Leads to 55 Layoffs at Illinois’s John A. Logan College

Facing a $7-million budget deficit, John A. Logan College’s Board of Trustees approved 55 faculty and staff layoffs on Wednesday, reports The Southern Illinoisan.

The decision, passed 7 to 1, followed four hours of deliberation and more than 30 testimonials from the hundreds of students, faculty, and staff members who packed the board meeting. Many of them condemned the board’s plan to remove 38 percent of the community college’s full-time instructors.

“I beg of you to try to save money from other areas,” said Lauren Horrell, a first-year dental-assistant student, according to the newspaper. “It is definitely not impossible. Please, do not ruin other dreams.”

The layoffs are the latest response by a public college in Illinois to the state’s budget stalemate, which has left public institutions without state funding for nine months.

“I wish that the governor and the speaker of the House and the president of Senate were sitting at this table tonight having to make this decision,” said the college’s interim president, Ron House, at the meeting. “It might give them a different perspective on this bullying match they’re engaged in.”