Last week the city suddenly cut the budget of every school in New York City. They made the announcement without warning and the very next day the money was extracted from the school’s bank accounts.
Gone. Poof.
PS 321’s budget was cut by $125,000. For a school that does not receive Title I funding, this accounts for a large amount of the school’s discretionary spending.
According to the school’s principal: “because the cut comes mid year when we have already spent more than half of our budget, we have limited areas we can cut from.”
This huge cut will have a serious impact on the school. Here is a list of where the cuts will come from:
–No new furniture
–Supply budget to be cut—no new math books
–Professional development costs will be cut
–When a fourth grade teacher goes on maternity leave in February, she will be replaced with a staff member who is currently providing academic intervention.
–Substitutes and paraprofessionals will be cut
–Literacy intervention teachers working 4 days will work 3; fewer periods for kids in need of intervention.
–Money set aside for “roll over” cushion will have to be used this year; negative impact on next year’s budget.
In a note to the parents in which she explained the budget cuts, Principal Elizabeth Phillips wrote, “I fear what this means for next year in terms of class size, intervention services and arts programming, which is where we put the largest amount of our discretionary funds.
There will be an information and strategy session about fighting back against the school budget cuts sponsored by Council Member Bill De Blasio on Wednesday. Here are the details:
Wednesday, February 13th, 2007
6:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Brooklyn Borough Hall Hearing Room
209 Joralemon Street
(Between Court and Adams Streets)
Brooklyn, NY
-Hear from teachers, students, parents, advocates, and
union leaders about how these sudden cuts will affect our schools
and our children’s education.
-Learn about what you can do to reverse these cuts NOW and
prevent future budget reductions.
-Discuss your concerns with fellow parents, teachers and
community members, and share your ideas about how we can fight
to preserve our children’s education and reverse the budget cuts
together.
For additional information or to RSVP please call
Phil Jones at 212-788-6969 or email
deblasio@council.nyc.ny.us
this makes me ill. of all the things to cut from, why does education always get sacrificed first?
Our school, PS 321, is wealthy by comparison to many schools. Imagine the consequences for less organized, less affluent schools. This sucks.