Syracuse Deputy Superintendent Chris Vogelsang this week plans to submit a list of 243 or so staff cuts to the school district’s personnel department. The district — the largest in the Central New York with more than 20,000 students and 4,000 employees — will next figure out seniority, retirements and the other details that will show how many of...
Left, Nottingham High School Dean of Students Greg Jones is greeted by Rahmeer Peterson, 18, middle, in the cafeteria Wednesday as Derrick Gore, 16, right, looks on. Jones works with famiies, kids, police officers and the neighborhood to prevent discipline problems and help kids out. He also patrols the halls and cafeteria during lunch. One of the Syracuse school budget cuts is the dean of students position.
Syracuse Deputy Superintendent Chris Vogelsang this week plans to submit a list of 243 or so staff cuts to the school district’s personnel department.
The district — the largest in the Central New York with more than 20,000 students and 4,000 employees — will next figure out seniority, retirements and the other details that will show how many of the cuts translate into layoffs.
As it stands now, Vogelsang said the cuts are the worst in the district in roughly 20 years.
What the district will cut is starting to emerge.
The administration plans to cut the jobs of deans of students, who handle discipline, from the city’s high schools. That’s at a time when high school enrollment is up and projected to grow again next year by 100 students.
The plan, too, is to cut about 30 high school teachers. Many who remain will teach six classes instead of five.
Three middle school reading teacher jobs will disappear. So will three middle school administrative intern jobs. And more teachers will teach six classes instead of five. The district is closing Levy Middle to save money.
In the elementary schools, two vice principal jobs will be cut, which means four of the smaller elementary schools — Elmwood, Lemoyne, Bellevue and Van Duyn — will have half-time vice principals. Elementary classes will grow by one student each to an average of 24 students.
With larger classes and fewer staff, it will be harder to give students the individualized, one-to-one help the district has built into the schools, Vogelsang said.
In pre-kindergarten, four reading coaches and seven teaching assistants will be gone because grant money ran out.
All told, Vogelsang estimates roughly 120 teachers and 50 to 60 teaching assistants, would be cut. Of the district’s work force, 1,973 of them are teachers or provide other instructional support.
“I know people want to hear that we can continue to lose teachers and (teachers’ assistants) and everything and nothing will impact instruction, but that’s an untruth,” Vogelsang said. “We are going to see an impact. What we’re asking teachers to do is a lot more with less.”
Syracuse, like districts around the state, faces cuts because its revenues, especially from the state, are down and expenses are up, including raises for teachers and other employees. The Syracuse district also is facing the end of some government grants it relies on, although it continues to draw in more grants.
The district budget is still up in the air even though the school year is about to end and the district’s new fiscal year starts July 1. Teachers and other employees want to know whether or what jobs they’ll have next year. The district’s $354.5 million general fund budget is far from final because the district depends on the state for most of its revenue and there is no state budget yet.
The school board will finalize its budget in June based on its best estimates and then pink slips will go out, if layoffs are necessary. The district says some of the cut jobs will be empty because of retirements, leaves of absence or other reasons.
School board President Richard Strong said the board will take another look at the cuts proposed by the administration as the numbers firm up. The district was in the process of gradually downsizing but the budget crisis sped that up, he said.
One of the downsides of the accelerated pace is the district will lose some of its younger teachers. They will be laid off first, if layoffs come.
The board is about to receive the results of a study of how the district uses its resources, and that may reveal ways the district can save money or spend its money better, he said.
“It gives the board, to some extent, a blueprint for how to go forward with these very tough decisions that we’re going to have to make in the next few weeks,” Strong said.
Over at Nottingham High School, Principal Debra Mastropaolo is wondering what she would do next year without Greg Jones, who has been dean of students for several years. Jones handles discipline, which frees up Mastropaolo and her vice principals to focus on academics, she said.
He mediates to prevent trouble, works as an intermediary between staff, students and families and looks for the reasons why kids get in trouble to prevent them from doing it again, Mastropaolo said.
When neighborhood residents have concerns about kids, he’s their contact. He covers not just the school grounds but the sidewalks and corners around the school.
And Jones supervises the hallways and cafeterias. Plus he’s a Nottingham grad and a great role model, coaches girls basketball and sends his own kids to city schools, Mastropaolo said.
“He’s everything you’d want,” she said.
Contact Maureen Nolan 470-2185 or mnolan@syracuse.com