Budget constrictions at Cardozo leading to AP class cuts, protests

Lower-than-expected enrollment at Benjamin Cardozo High means the school has been scrambling to cut costs as the school year begins. 

Earlier today, City Council member Mark Weprin sent out a press release saying that the “DOE made an error, and now thousands of students are left in the lurch in the middle of the school year.”

“DOE is forcing BNCHS to repay four hundred thousand dollars at a rate of one hundred thirty thousand dollars per year; the cut, which translates to one and a half teaching positions, has been implemented to make up for a DOE bookkeeping error,” Weprin’s statement continued.

Cardozo teacher Dino Sferrazza said the school hasn’t yet eliminated courses, but they have reduced the number of sections of AP courses offered because the teachers were needed to fill regular earth science or biology classes. 
“In the last shuffling, in the last week alone, we had to drop double period math and science AP classes,” Sferrazza said. 

Some students staged a sit-in at school today and met with the principal, Sferrazza added. A Change.org petition to restore funding had more than 945 signatures by Monday night.