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RCSD Budget Approved By School Board

The Rochester City School Board has  unanimously approved next year’s 734-million-dollar budget.

Thursday night’s budget vote also closed a 50-million-dollar gap for the 2013-14 school year.

School Board President Malik Evans says cutting down on outside services, adjusting substitute teaching costs and making in-school-suspension staff changes helped close the deficit. Evans also points to administrative changes in special education as a cost-saving tool….

"What you've seen over the years in this District is there's just too many leaders, there's the director, the director, the director. We're trying to eliminate a lot of the layers, eliminate a lot of the fat so to speak to make sure we're a lean agile organization and spending our money wisely. When you have a $50 million gap to close you don't have time to have the assistant to the assistant."

The District is expecting to lose nearly 1000 students to charter schools and private schools in the area. Evans says increasing sports and adding more time to after-school and summer programs are all ways to help make the district more attractive to city school parents. City Council will vote on the District's budget in June and it goes into effect in July.