The headquarters staff of the D.C. school system will shrink by 70 positions under a reorganization proposal intended to direct money to classrooms — a move that marks one of the first major decisions by the city’s new schools chief.
Education advocates have long complained that the central office is bloated and diverts money from classrooms and children.
At a hearing Wednesday, D.C. Council members pressed D.C. Schools Chancellor Lewis D. Ferebee about his spending plan, asking why some schools are facing cuts even as the central office payroll shrinks. Schools that serve some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods have been told their budgets are declining amid projected enrollment drops.
“How can you say there are historic investments in education when the central office is forced to cut $16 million out of their budgets and schools are seeing cuts, particularly in Ward 7 and 8?” said D.C. Council member David Grosso (I-At Large), who chairs the education committee.
The Wednesday grilling came as the District’s 52,000-student traditional public school system is finalizing its budget for fiscal 2020. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) allocated about $1 billion to the school system, and the chancellor distributed that money to schools and the central office, which includes some employees deployed to schools.
The D.C. Council is expected to vote on the budget next month.
Ferebee defended his budget proposal, saying funding cuts to schools reflect rising costs and enrollment declines. Bowser proposed a 2.2 percent increase in per-pupil funding across the city, but Ferebee said costs are expected to rise 4.3 percent.
The chancellor said position cuts are not finalized but would span the central office. His proposal calls for cutting 140 existing positions while adding 70 new spots, for a net loss of 70 jobs. Five offices will be disbanded: the offices of the chief business officer, equity, family public engagement, school design and continuous improvement, and talent and culture.
The work of those departments will shift to other offices. Three offices will be created.
“Our focus remains on ensuring an excellent education for every student, and particularly accelerating student achievement in Wards 7 and 8. We recognize that some families do not have confidence in their neighborhood school, which leads to decreased enrollment,” Ferebee said in his opening statement Wednesday to the D.C. Council. “Our schools will see new investments and opportunities next school year beyond our school-based budgets.”
Ferebee did not delve into specifics about central office reductions, saying who will be cut has not been finalized.
Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) pushed for more information, saying the council needs to understand the budget before it can be approved.
“If we don’t understand the central budget, then we are going to do something that is a mistake,” Mendelson said.
The chancellor has come under fire in recent weeks over his proposed budgets for schools.
The budgets reflect the challenges that come with creating equitable spending plans in a city in which many schools in low-income neighborhoods — particularly middle and high schools — lack students, and campuses in wealthier neighborhoods are at capacity. Each school receives an allocation based on how many students are enrolled.
Teachers and education advocates say campuses facing cuts include schools most desperately in need of resources to serve their students and to attract more children.
The Washington Teachers’ Union plans to protest Thursday afternoon, calling on the city to invest more money in schools. Council members said they have received calls and emails from constituents concerned about the level of funding the schools in their neighborhoods are expected to receive.
“For the past 10 years, that’s just how it’s been. We do more with less,” said Maxine Elbert, a special-education teacher at H.D. Woodson High, a school in Northeast Washington with a significant population of students who come from low-income families.
Woodson is facing a budget cut and a projected enrollment drop of 15 students. Elbert said she worries about the budget reduction because the school has seen an increase in special-education students.
“It’s going to be rough, and a lot of the teachers are already overwhelmed,” Elbert said.
Ferebee said school budgets do not show all the investments being made on campuses that serve low-income neighborhoods. He pointed to $2.9 million in additional funding that would support Anacostia and Ballou High Schools and the elementary and middle schools that feed into them. That money would come from the central office budget — not from the individual school budgets — and would provide staff to help with academics, attendance, special-education compliance and more.
Anacostia and Ballou are two schools in Southeast Washington that are expected to experience budget cuts and steep enrollment declines. They serve students from low-income families and a large number of teenagers who require special-education services.
Ferebee said some systemwide investments could help those schools, including a $6 million increase in mental-health services and $4.6 million slated for new technology.
“While rising costs will continue to present challenges, I look forward to continuing to work with students, educators and families across the District to develop a sustainable budget model that meets the needs of every student and school,” Ferebee said.