Pittsfield’s School Committee has approved a $59 million budget for fiscal 2016 which includes the cutting of 28 full-time positions. The committee voted 6 to 1 in favor the spending plan Wednesday.The budget calls for the city of Pittsfield to appropriate $58.5 million to the school district, an increase of nearly $2 million from the previous spending plan. Despite the hike, increasing contractual obligations, energy costs and a fleet of new buses created a $2 million budget gap which Superintendent Jason McCandless warned would need to be addressed.
“There’s no question we are going to be cutting into some of the meat of what we do and starting to nick the bone,” said McCandless in a March interview.
The plan includes programming reductions and 28 full-time job cuts across the district’s schools including teachers and coordinators. The city council will review the overall municipal budget over the next couple months.
