January Newsflash
At the SRC . . .
In December, the School Reform Commission moved to reduce the School District’s deficit by agreeing to over $40 million in recommended cuts from CEO Paul Vallas. These reductions were on top of an initial SRC decision in November to authorize a 20 percent reduction in central office administrative staff and to reduce other contracts and initiatives. The cuts are intended to reduce an unanticipated shortfall of over $70 million in the School District budget.
The approval by the SRC of some of the CEO’s recommendations and the rejection of others did not take place at a public meeting, raising the question of whether the Commission had complied with Pennsylvania’s Sunshine Act requiring public agencies to deliberate and take official actions in public sessions. SRC officials say no public meeting was required for these recommendations.
Major recommendations for savings endorsed by the SRC in December included:
-scaling back of the District’s summer school program
-reduction in funding for the new alternative school run by CEP (Community Education Partners)
-denial of raises to District employees who are not under union contracts
-elimination of the CEO and EMO regional offices
-limitations on budget transfers within departments and schools
-a number of “efficiencies” in special education services.
At its December public meetings, the SRC approved two large contracts relating to District facilities: a $22.4 million, three-year contract extension with the URS Corporation to provide staffing for the District’s Capital Improvement Program; and a two-year, $5.2 million contract amendment with the Elliot-Lewis Corporation to continue to serve as property manager for District headquarters at 440 N. Broad St.
The SRC also approved a modified 2007 “Title I Districtwide Parent Involvement Policy,” which it says aligns the policy with parent involvement provisions of the federal No Child Left Behind law. The Education Law Center filed a complaint last year challenging District parent involvement policies as inadequate, which is under review by the state’s Department of Education.