PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — With costs outpacing revenues, the Philadelphia School District is making central office and school-level cuts to stave off a projected $300 million deficit.
“This administration is absolutely committed to getting this structural deficit down to zero,” Superintendent Tony Watlington told reporters at a budget briefing on Wednesday.
The district is slashing $225 million in expenses from next year’s budget to address a $300 million shortfall projected for fiscal year 2030. Rising salaries, increased charter school payments, and health care costs, coupled with the loss of federal COVID-19 funding, are causing the potential red ink, Watlington said.
“We’re going to cut approximately 130 vacant central office positions that we’ve been very strategic about not filling so far,” Watlington said.
He said no one would be laid off at the school level, but 340 school-based employees would be reassigned. Watlington said he’s not planning school-based layoffs.
“No teacher cuts, no principal or assistant principal cuts. Not going to do it,” he assured.
The district also proposes eliminating 220 substitute teaching positions.
“We gave one building substitute to each school, and that will no longer be in the budget for next year,” said Chief Financial Officer Mike Herbstman.
Watlington said the 18 schools the district is proposing to close will be exempt from cuts.
“We’re going to build this budget in a way that prevents any budget or position cuts to the 18 schools that I have recommended to the Board of Education to close,” he said.
The district also proposes reducing vendor contracts it determines are unproductive.
Watlington said the district dipped into its reserves and did not cut spending in previous years as a way to show that performance could improve with adequate resources.
“Test scores are up, graduation rates are up, dropout rates down. All of our high schools are accredited, and we’re in a good financial position in terms of how we’re managing our budget,” the superintendent explained. “So now that we’re at this point, it makes sense to make the budget cuts.”
Principals received their individual school budgets this week.