School District Officials Trim Down Administrative Staff Under Budget Crunch
By Mike DeNardo
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - As the School District works to balance its budget, it's also trimming down the size of its central office.
Decentralization is a buzzword at the school district these days, as administrators work to transfer many academic and financial decisions to the school level in the hopes of improving school performance.
The mayor's chief education officer, Lori Shorr, told the PICA board -- that's the panel overseeing the city budget -- that the headquarters staff will get even smaller.
"440 (North) Broad, which is where the school district is, used to -- I mean, we're down 35 percent, the folks that were working in that building. So we are already making that a smaller, leaner organization and it will get leaner still."
The district has brought in a national consultant to help restructure management, as it works to plug budget gaps of $20 million this year, and up to $400 million next year.
