With budget choices made, principals report "devastating" cuts

Next school year’s budget cuts will be “devastating,” principals are reporting.

Principals had until Thursday to decide how to handle cuts of about 5 percent or more of their budgets for next year. Many say they chose to cut teaching positions, slash after-school programs, and trim other extras that have helped their schools improve.

For an example, see the comment left on GothamSchools’ interactive budget cuts map over the weekend by the principal of PS/MS 179 in the Bronx:

We lost 13 teachers, one AP through retirement who we cannot afford to replace, four paraprofessionals, three school aides and a family worker. […] I will have NO special programs that we previously paid for such as poets for middle school, dance for elementary school. Morale is terrible and the results would appear to be devastating — all this after making significant progress over the past three years.

To let us know what’s being cut at your school, leave a comment on our budget cuts map or send us an e-mail.