The Board of Education for Cincinnati Public Schools voted to cut more than 100 jobs district-wide Monday night, but still hasn't finalized the school district's operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year.
When students return to school this fall, CPS will be without a dozen social workers, eight counselors, 10 assistant principals, and over 80 central office employees. Those central office positions include custodians, tech support staff, accountants, and more. The Board also approved cutting the district's International Baccalaureate programs, resulting in the loss of three positions. A five-day furlough for teachers and administrators will also be implemented as a cost-saving measure.
In total, the approved reductions will save CPS approximately $13 million. That still leaves the district with over $40 million to cut to balance its budget.
Board members say they expected to vote on the remaining reductions and finalize the budget Monday night. However, Treasurer Michael Gustin told the Board that administrators needed more time to properly assess the costs of those remaining reductions before they could be put up for a vote.
"I don't anticipate it taking longer than the next meeting to get through those details, but it's one of these things where it's sort of like an algebra problem where we have too many variables to solve for," Gustin said.
He added that these variables include the rising cost of student transportation, which tends to fluctuate, and the cost of other school services that haven't been actualized yet.
"A little delay to make sure we get these numbers right, I think, is worth the sacrifice of not having something tonight," he said.
The Board of Education set a deadline of June 30, the end of the current fiscal year, to approve the operating budget. Now, it won't meet that deadline and will need to pass a temporary appropriation resolution to fund essential operations until the next budget is approved.
Board members told administrators it was disappointing not to have finalized the budget before the end of the month, but board member Eve Bolton said the already approved cuts will help the treasurer and superintendent get closer to completing it.
"We are trying to give the administration enough direction and authority to get us to where they would have a completed budget by our July meeting," Bolton said.
The Board's next meeting is scheduled for July 13.
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