"We're basically going to limp through May and June. We'll cover payroll. We'll cover debt service because we absolutely have to," Houstoun said. Without intervention, "we're going to have such a pileup of cash deficit that we're basically not going to be able to pay people in July for work they did in June. If we haven't fixed this and have a credible plan for next year and the next year, we may not even be able to go to credit markets."
And with 51/2 months before the end of the school year and little left to cut, the only options left on the table are bad ones - possibilities include cutting all spring sports, all instrumental music, all gifted programs, half the district's psychologists.
SRC Chairman Pedro Ramos, who as head of the old school board oversaw a financial crisis that led to the state's taking over the district in 2001, said the scope of the current problem was "unprecedented in my adult lifetime."
The SRC on Tuesday named Thomas Knudsen to the new title of chief recovery officer - he will function both as superintendent and chief financial officer. Knudsen, who previously led a turnaround at the Philadelphia Gas Works, will work under a $150,000, six-month contract.
Knudsen said he shared the SRC's "sense of urgency and alarm."
"This is a severe circumstance, to say the least," he said at a news conference after his appointment was announced.
Penny Nixon, formerly associate superintendent for academics, becomes chief academic officer. She will report directly to the SRC.
Leroy Nunery II, the former acting superintendent, and Michael Masch, former chief financial officer, will both stay on as special advisers but will take pay cuts.
