East Orange mayor addresses school district budget deficit, says it comes down to "oversight"
EAST ORANGE, N.J. -- The East Orange school district had another half day Friday, as it deals with a $25 million deficit and massive layoffs set to start in two months.
The Board of Education voted to cut 93 positions, including Spanish and substitute teachers, literacy and math coaches and social workers. Of those 93 roles, officials say 71 of them are teachers.
East Orange Mayor Ted Green addressed the situation Friday, saying the new superintendent discovered the deficit, and now everyone is chipping in to help out.
"I think it's oversight. When sometimes you have folks in office and there's oversights, and then you have someone come in and they start dotting the 'I's and crossing the 'T's and looking into the fine print, it's an oversight. I believe that we've got to get better with that," he told CBS News New York.
East Orange superintendent discovers major deficit
The East Orange School District Superintendent Dr. Chris Irving, who has only been on the job for three months, says the district has been spending over budget for the school year.
Irving says the district was short $6 to $8 million coming into the year, but the deficit has now reached $25 million. He says if cuts aren't made, they won't be able to make payroll in May or June.
"We did not do our due diligence in, quite frankly, understanding what the financial reality was as soon as we started the school year," said Irving.
Some educators say they've never seen anything like this in more than 20 years in the industry. One teacher said she was hired before the school year, but will now be out of a job.
East Orange community blindsided by budget cuts
Parents also expressed shock, as their children face another half day of school.
"Make this make sense. Where's the money?" mother Maria Irvin said outside the school Friday. "The mayor needs to answer a lot of questions, lots. You see new parks being built, you see these high-rises going up, and you see this school system that's already terrible going down even more."
"They're knocking off teachers, and the kids need these teachers. The kids look up to these teachers, and they have a lot of things that they're going through throughout their homes, and the teachers are sometimes a psychiatrist," said Ilyas Williams, who brought his nephew to school. "To take away a mentor, as such, it would just be detrimental to the kids."
The superintendent said schools took a half day because many families and teachers are mentally exhausted from the ordeal.
