Students across Philadelphia begin school today with a big question mark in the district budget.
To maintain "the status quo" — the same level of services offered last school year — the School District of Philadelphia announced over the summer that they would need $81 million.
$32 million in cuts will possibly resolve part of the $81 million gap. These included cleaning schools less often, leaving police officer vacancies unfilled and 20 departmental staff positions cut.
As part of the cuts, the District proposed to lengthen the 1.5 mile-distance eligibility for a SEPTA TransPass to 2 miles, meaning 7,500 students who live less than 2 miles from school would have to find an alternative ride to school. After parents raised concerns about safety and truancy, this $3.8 million dollar plan was not implemented and the district worked with SEPTA to restructure debt to keep the passes, CBS Philly reported.
The remaining $49 million is expected to come from the proposed $2-a-pack cigarette tax that was left on the table when the House went on summer recess. The School District of Philadelphia presented estimates on August 15 that the tax could bring in $38 million to $60 million in revenue if implemented on October 1.
The district is also seeking concessions in health benefits from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers. If this is unsuccessful, the August 15th press release stated, by mid-October individual school budgets would be affected, added commameaning “increased class sizes and combined grade-level classes.”
This is not the first time the School District of Philadelphia has had a budget deficit. In December 2012, the School District announced a $304 millionreplaced text "dollar" with symbol gap. In Spring 2013, the District passed a budget which left meager funds for essential supplies like paper and books. The District was forced to close 24 schools and lay off 3,783 employees — including teachers, counselors, secretaries and maintenance staff.
More than 1,600 of these positions were restored by the start of the next school year when some of the requested funds came through.
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