As the Syracuse City School District faces tough times ahead with a $50 million budget deficit, officials are forecasting job cuts while also trying to keep students on track in school.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed a state budget on Feb. 1 that could cut about 240 SCSD jobs. The school board already said it would have to cut an additional 506 jobs to combat a $50 million deficit in the district’s budget. The school board voted on Jan. 28 to shut down two city schools — Elmwood Elementary and Bellevue Middle School Academy — at the end of this school year.

‘The decisions made with regard to staff cuts are all done with students first in mind,’ said Deborah Howe-Tennant, coordinator of SCSD’s High School Graduation Initiative.

Within the hundreds of cuts, the number of guidance counselors and other district employees could take a hit. Guidance counselors help students stay on track by creating a plan to aid them, Howe-Tennant said.

‘Guidance counselors are key,’ Howe-Tennant said. ‘They are covert gatekeepers to kids coming back in the system.’

Budget cuts could also affect the Say Yes to Education program, which rewards high-achieving high school students with college scholarships, including some to Syracuse University. Say Yes is funded through private grants and the city school district’s budget.

‘Any part of the district won’t be untouched, but the key is to leave the programs that students are benefiting from in tact,’ said Debra Schoening, director of Say Yes and district supervising director for school improvement.

Schoening is bracing herself for the modifications that could be coming to Say Yes, which currently takes care of 4,000 students in its afterschool program. Schoening said there would be some changes in the number of tutors and class sizes for the summer camp and afterschool programs.

Despite the changes the district is going through, Schoening said she hopes Say Yes and other helpful programs will still be a part of the equation.

‘We have to think in terms of how we will continue the program,’ Schoening said. ‘Not if the program will continue or not.’

The city school district’s struggles extend beyond the budget deficit. Seven of SCSD’s 32 district schools, including all four of the city’s high schools, received a ‘persistently lowest achieving’ rating from the state. Five more schools are at risk of joining that group, according to a graduation rate study released by state education officials on Jan. 21. The schools could require a top-to-bottom restructuring or shut down completely.

Only 14.7 percent of Syracuse city students also showed they are ready for college and a career, according to the State Regents Exam.

Amid the struggles, the district is working to keep students in school with the High School Graduation Initiative, which is funded by a federal grant. The initiative acquired the grant on Jan. 1, and because the federal government funds the grant, state cuts won’t affect it. Howe-Tennant, the initiative’s coordinator, said the grant is a substantial amount of money, but she did not give its exact amount.

Howe-Tennant said the initiative has two goals: to re-enroll students who withdraw from school with 14 or more credits and get them to receive their high school diploma, as well as to prevent students at risk of dropping out from doing so.

Through the initiative, students can complete classes in any form that is the most convenient to them: going back to formal school, taking classes online or at a local library, or taking day and night classes.

Said Howe-Tennant: ‘We want to work smarter to make sure that people aren’t overburdened and that we’re reaching kids.’

kaoutram@syr.edu

 

 

 

 

Published on February 16, 2011 at 12:00 pm