You’re fired: Heaping debt could lead to 163 City School layoffs

A promise of adding 325 new jobs has turned into the possibility of 163 layoffs at Columbus City Schools.

A budget shortfall amounting to $89 million is lurking in the district’s near future (expected to hit during 2020-21 school year) so to compensate, interim Superintendent John Stanford is recommending layoffs plus tens of millions of dollars of funding cuts. The layoffs would affect teachers.

This news comes after the two-year state budget passed last summer which increased the district’s yearly budget but not nearly as much as they were expecting. If the $89 million shortfall is not addressed, it could inflate to $224 million in the 2021-22 school year, reports The Dispatch. They also report that Columbus City Schools wagered with voters in 2016, saying if a new levy was passed, 325 jobs would be added. The voters came through but it looks like Columbus City School’s end of the bargain has changed.

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