The district has whittled down a $14 million budget hole to $8 million, but schools Superintendent Reginald Mayo said he will soon recommend another round of up to 150 layoffs to close the gap.
Mayo made that announcement at Monday’s regular school board meeting.
The district started the current fiscal year with a $14.6 million budget gap, and was facing up to 190 layoffs to close that gap.
The district cut 42 education jobs in February amid a fiscal crisis at city and state. Those cuts will save $1.8 million annually, according to schools spokesman Christopher Hoffman.
Those cuts would leave the number of layoffs at 150, Mayo said.
“We’ll try to deal with as much as possible” through attrition, he said.
The real total “should be lower” than 150, Mayo said.
He said some magnet funding and attrition has already helped slim the $14 million gap down to $8 million.
“We’re probably going to have to cut somewhere in the neighborhood of $8 million,” Mayo said.
Mayo said school officials are working on identifying those cuts, and will have a recommendation regarding layoffs “over the next week.”
why can we allow budgets with huge gaps to pass? where's the accountability and oversight?