In what could prove to be the largest jobs cut in almost 40 years, more than 3,700 school employees will be laid off July 1 if more money isn’t found to fill up the district’s $304 million budget hole.
Schools Superintendent William Hite on Friday announced layoff notices were being mailed to 3,783 of the district’s 19,530 employees. Of that number, 676 teachers, 283 counselors, 127 assistant principals, 1,202 noon-time aides and 307 secretaries and 769 school support staffers will be pink-slipped along with 419 other workers, according to stats supplied by the district.
The superintendent called the layoffs “deeply disheartening.”
He said the soon-to-be-idled staffers “play important roles in the lives of thousands of students In what could prove to be the largest jobs cut in almost 40 years, more than 3,700 school employees will be laid off July 1 if more money isn’t found to fill up the district’s $304 million budget hole.
Schools Superintendent William Hite on Friday announced layoff notices were being mailed to 3,783 of the district’s 19,530 employees. Of that number, 676 teachers, 283 counselors, 127 assistant principals, 1,202 noon-time aides and 307 secretaries and 769 school support staffers will be pink-slipped along with 419 other workers, according to stats supplied by the district.
The superintendent called the layoffs “deeply disheartening.”
He said the soon-to-be-idled staffers “play important roles in the lives of thousands of students throughout our city. They often do jobs beyond their titles and employee classifications. They are teachers, counselors, friends, protectors and mentors to the children of Philadelphia. Without them, our schools will be just empty shells.”
The layoff total represents almost 20 percent of the school district’s staff, district spokesman Fernando Gallard said.
“Every aspect of the district will feel the impact,” Hite said during a June 7 news conference. “Schools, regional offices and central office.”
Hite said the district’s central office work force will be reduced by 40 percent.
Gallard did not provide a school-by-school breakdown of the layoffs. Most schools contacted by Star would not yet give specifics on which staff members would go.
At Bodine High School for International Affairs in Northern Liberties, 1101 N. 4th St., approximately 12 staff members will be laid off, according to school staffer Ulysses McGhee. The school’s one secretary will be cut, as well as the school’s assistant principal and counselor.
“I think it’s going to be tough, 12th graders are going to have a hard time getting into college,” McGhee said of losing the counselor position. Losing the school’s assistant principal, Nina Gavula, will affect the school’s 550 students, McGhee said. “Disciplinary wise, it’s going to be an issue.”
For other River Wards schools, it wasn’t clear how many staff members would be affected. Staff at Horatio B. Hackett Elementary School, 2161 E. York St., and Bridesburg Elementary School, 2824 Jenks St., would not offer any comment on layoffs when reached by phone Monday.
In March, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission agreed to close 23 public schools, including three in the River Wards: Charles Carroll High School, 2700 E. Auburn St., Douglas High School, 2700 E. Huntingdon St., and Sheridan West Academy, 3701 Frankford Ave. Those schools will all close this month.
Penn Treaty Middle School could not be reached by press time. When public school closings were announced in March, Penn Treaty was slated to expand to include grades 9 through 12, and also students from other closed schools — students in grades 5 and 6 from Hackett Elementary would transition to Penn Treaty Middle, as well as high school students from Sheridan West Academy, Douglas and Carroll, if the school includes grades 9 through 12.
Hite said the district has borrowed $300 million to pay its bills and closed 30 schools during the past 18 months. The district also has frozen charter school expansion and adopted a budget that cuts programs, positions and resources and has reduced the salaries of senior staff.
“We also have reduced central office staff, school budgets, nursing and counseling levels, athletics, art and music programs. We have lowered wages, and required furlough days and contributions to health benefits,” Hite said June 7.
All of that has helped the district’s finances, but hasn’t helped enough.
“The reality is that, if we had not done these things, our outlook would be even bleaker,” Hite said. “The district would be in more peril.”
Employee contracts have to be honored, so those slated to be laid off had to be informed.
The layoffs follow the School Reform Commission’s recent adoption of a so-called Doomesday Budget. That budget will be amended if there is an infusion of cash from the state and the city as well as givebacks from the Philadelphia Federal of Teachers.
“I am doing everything in my power to prevent this budget from becoming a reality on July 1,” Hite said.
In mid-May, Mayor Michael Nutter announced hikes on liquor and other taxes to collect $95 million for the school district. State approval is needed for the measures. ••
