Tuesday, May 25, 1999
City schools lay off 228 aides
BY EARNEST WINSTON and DANA DIFILIPPO
The Cincinnati Enquirer
In an effort to further trim $20 million from the district's 1999-2000 budget, the Cincinnati Board of Education on Monday night approved layoffs of 228 full-time instructional assistants (IAs)
The board also voted to lay off five full-time school community coordinators. The combined layoffs, effective June 14, will save the 47,200-student district more than $4 million. The move will leave 972 IAs, or teacher aides, for next year.
Some IAs coach, mentor and offer one-on-one help in classrooms. Others work to get parents more involved in schools and to keep truancy rates down.
Kathleen Hofmann, third vice president of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers, called the layoffs “a tragedy” for employees and students. She said some of the laid-off IAs will find teaching positions at other schools, due to retirements and resignations.
CPS officials decided earlier this year to cut $20 million from their budget instead of seeking a tax increase. The school board has already approved the layoffs of 77 teachers, and reassigned 14.
Half of the proposed $20 million in cuts would come from centrally funded services such as transportation and salaries, while schools would have to shoulder the other half from their per-pupil allocations. Monday's layoffs came from the schools' half.
In other business, board members:
• Denied Superintendent Steven Adamowski's recommendation to allow Westwood's Dater Junior High School to add a 10th grade. Dater still has the option of submitting a charter school application.
• Swore in Rick Williams of North Avondale to fill the seat of Virginia Griffin, who resigned last month.
headIF YOU GO
Cincinnati residents can voice their opinions about CPS's $360 million 1999-2000 budget proposal at the board's 7 p.m. meetings June 14 and 28 at 2651 Burnet Ave., Corryville. The board must approve a budget by June 30.
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