Cincinnati Public Schools' Board of Education has approved a wave of staff reductions as it works to whittle down its operating budget for the next fiscal year.
The staff reductions were part of a handful of budget cuts approved by board members on Monday night, which also included the sale of some unused property owned by the school district.
The school district says it still has millions to cut to reach its operating budget goal of $624 million before the end of June.
To get there, school administrators presented the Board of Education with a slate of proposed staff reductions and layoffs, largely aimed at the central office, social workers, maintenance staff, and various specialists and managers.
After some discussion, board members ultimately rejected a portion of the proposal that would have eliminated positions held by current CPS employees, instead approving a plan to reduce staff numbers by deciding not to hire new employees for potentially dozens of vacant positions.
A presentation shared by district administrators showed that next year's projected student enrollment would require about 75 fewer teachers on staff. CPS administrators claim most of those 75 teaching positions are vacant or expected to be vacant by the start of the next school year. Board members also approved getting rid of a few other currently vacant jobs.
Board president Kareem Moffett said she was willing to vote to eliminate some roles administrators felt weren't necessary next year, but wasn't willing to get rid of certain positions she felt were essential to the district's success.
"I don't want anyone to take away that I don't want to make cuts and that I want to stay exactly where we are," Moffett said. "I'm not willing to sacrifice any gains that we've had because we've got a lot of work to do academically."
While the Board managed to maneuver around some layoffs Monday night, school leaders will still likely need to cut several employees soon to meet their budget target.
Reflecting on program cuts made in the previous year, board member Brandon Craig said decisions around this year's budget will be much harder on staff.
"These things are difficult," he said. "The budget we did last year was the easy stuff because it didn't touch people, and this year's budget has to touch people. There are no other options."
The Board of Education's next meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday.
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