Lodise said district administrators told him that 163 of the district's current force of 635 full and part-time officers would be cut.
District officials, however, said no decisions had been made about school police.
Lodise said he was concerned the cuts in police and climate managers would exacerbate already unsafe conditions. He cited a recent seven-part Inquirer series on violence in city schools that showed how troubled the climate is at many schools.
"It's going to get worse," Lodise said. "It's not going to get better."
Asked about Lodise's assertion, district spokeswoman Shana Kemp said, "There's no confirmation of that."
School District officials warned in a document last week that 163 officers may need to be lost if financial conditions worsen. Along with the officers, the district also listed some other seemingly inconceivable cuts, such as its entire athletic and gifted programs.
What is more certain is that the district will eliminate several positions, including those of climate managers - administrators who monitor school safety to keep violence down.
They received letters in recent days telling them that "the position you presently occupy has been eliminated as of June 30, 2011."
Other positions on the chopping block are student advisers and parent ombudsmen.
Kemp said the district was trying to restructure the work that has been carried out by those in the eliminated positions so that students and parents would not suffer.
"I'm not sure how that will work out," said Kemp. "We're doing our best to make sure students and parents are not affected too negatively by any of the decisions we have to make."
The district drew up its list of cuts to close a projected $629 million funding shortfall as of July 1, which could include the possible loss of $293 million in state funds in Gov. Corbett's proposed budget.
Included on the cut list are more than 40 climate managers, said Robert McGrogan, president of the Commonwealth Association of School Administators, the union that represents them. More than 30 climate managers were laid off last year.
The loss of this position, McGrogan said, "could really impact safety."
The letter his members received, dated April 1, said eliminating the position "does not necessarily mean that your employment with the district will end." Some employees may have bumping rights.
Top district officials last week said that to balance the budget, they would need to cut central office staff in half; increase class sizes and the number of students assigned to school counselors; cut funds for art, music, and gifted education; reduce individual school budgets by an average of 13 percent; and reduce funding for student transportation and meals.
Much is still unclear, however. The district has said it will offer an early retirement package to some employees, and the number of layoffs will depend on the number of workers who opt to leave voluntarily.
Lori Shorr, Mayor Nutter's chief education adviser, said she had not seen all the details of the district's potential plans to cut.
"We don't like any of these cuts that are going to have to happen, particularly cuts around safety," she said. "But they've got a huge budget deficit that they have to deal with. These choices shouldn't have to be made. The children of Philadelphia deserve fully funded schools."
Contact staff writer Kristen Graham at 215-854-5146 or kgraham@phillynews.com.
