Superintendent Arlene Ackerman and her team are scheduled to testify before Council today, but several members said they do not expect her to ask for a specific dollar amount or suggest a remedy.
"They won't ask," said Councilman Curtis Jones Jr., who attended one of Monday's briefings. "They'll just put the problem out there."
District officials also have been in discussions with Mayor Nutter's administration. After winning the Democratic primary last week, Nutter promised "to devote the bulk of my time and effort to making sure [the city's children] get the resources they need."
The mayor has not staked out a position on helping the district with its current money woes, but his spokesman, Mark McDonald, said the mayor finds cuts to transportation, full-day kindergarten, and alternative schools "troubling."
"The mayor has been very concerned," McDonald said. "He's been working steadfastly with the school district for several months now on these issues."
Ackerman and her top deputies gave Council members their first detailed look at the district's $629 million budget shortfall Monday.
The meetings were held in the Council president's office in small groups, so that a quorum of members would not be present, forcing the discussions to be open to the public.
Ackerman was joined by School Reform Commission Chairman Robert L. Archie Jr., Deputy Superintendent Leroy Nunery, and chief financial officer Michael Masch.
They told Council members that the $50 million to $55 million could be raised through some combination of increased revenue and shared services, said Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell, chairwoman of the education committee.
They did not suggest how the city could increase revenue for the schools, Blackwell said, but Council members "seemed poised to help."
"There are no solutions . . . It's still wide open," she said.
Restoring full-day kindergarten and transportation services are the district's top priorities, Masch said.
