Philadelphia School District budget still millions in the red

The Philadelphia School District still need to cut millions from its budget by July.  But the head of the School Reform Commission tells City Council the SRC is making progress.  

SRC chairman Pedro Ramos says the district is working to trim its budget shortfall for the end of the fiscal year on June 30th and is still working on balancing the budget for the next year.

“A budget shortfall that in January appeared to be over $60 million and by February we learned was $70 million has now been trimmed to $26 million,” said Ramos.  “The bottom line is our goal is to maximize efficiencies and reduce spending on administration and operations in a way that put academic first and doesn’t trade short-term savings for long-term costs.”

Councilman David Oh says the district needs to reform its budgeting in the long-term.

“I think people are looking for a game changer,” said Oh, “not just a renewed and good effort by good people but a structural and systemic change that will lend stability and permanency to some objectiveness in best creating something different.”

Ramos says the school district will present its proposed budget for the new fiscal year soon.