BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Leaders within the Buffalo Public Schools District addressed how they plan to cut $90 million from the 2024-2025 budget.
It needs to cut the funding from the budget because by June 30, funding it received through the American Rescue Plan (ARP/ESSER} will run out.
The district is now working on tightening its belt by implementing a hiring freeze which took effect in January, along with addressing class sizes amid dropping enrollment.
Since November, the message from the board has remained consistent they are working hard to avoid layoffs.
Wednesday night BPS School Board's chief financial officer Jim Barnes shared how they plan to stick to that goal.
It was the second meeting on the budget process for 2024-2025, Barnes said it is going to be a tough year in the budget department.
"Cutting vacancies from the general fund and the grant funds during our school-based budget process, no un-budgeted requests. The formulas will drive the staff levels," Barnes told 7News' Pheben Kassahun.
Dealing with the economic realities of the loss of funding and any large state aid increases, the district needs to reduce its headcount by about 310 full-time positions (FTE).
To do so while avoiding layoffs and cutting vacancies from the general fund, Barnes is hoping that the problem will dissolve by the number of employees retiring from the district this year.
"We do have about 300 people who retire by selectively only hiring a portion of that. We think we can get to the reduction of 300 FTE's but there's no promises. It's way too early in the process," Barnes said.
During the last budget meeting on January 3, the district announced the hiring freeze except for essential employees which was effective immediately.
Additionally, Barnes explained they need to face up to their enrollment decreases and start aligning staff to those decreased student counts.
He explained classes for grades Pre-K through 6th grade have an average size of 18-19 students and will now increase to 21 students per class.
This is well within the rights of the teacher contract that was approved in April 2023 of having no more than 30 or 32 per class, depending on grade level.
"This is a phenomenon going on across New York State in every school district but we're down about 3,400 kids in the last five years. That obviously impacts two things: the amount of foundation aid you get but also you have to realign your staff and your cost to the lower student count," Barnes said.
The next budget meeting is Wednesday, March 6.
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