Michael Masch

The Philadelphia School District announced today that it has added a community meeting next week on the proposed $2.7 billion budget for 2011-12 that will provide a special focus on charter schools. The session will be held Wednesday, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Imhotep Institute Charter School, 6201 N. 21st St. Imhotep is one of 74 charter schools operating in the city. Michael Masch, the district's chief financial officer, will outline the proposed budget and then answer questions and respond to comments from the audience.

They carried placards and banners and brought an attitude. Nearly 200 parents, teachers and students rallied Sunday to protest more than $600 million in proposed budget cuts they say will decimate the Philadelphia School District. "Don't Cut What Works" read one banner. "Public Schools for the Public Good" said another. "Shame on You, Governor" blared a sign that seemed to best capture the mood of those at the rally. They cheered when Deputy School Superintendent Leroy Nunery said Gov. Corbett's plan to slash state aid to education would have a "disproportionate impact" on city school districts.

Six-year-old Madeline Church knew why she sat in the stuffy auditorium of Meredith Elementary School, a handmade sign taped to her white T-shirt, listening to a whole lot of grown-ups make speeches. "They want to take away money for schools," Madeline said, swinging her legs against her wooden chair. (The sign, which she carefully wrote herself, read, " Don't balence the bugit on my back !") The Meredith first grader, her parents, and about 200 others went to the South Philadelphia school for a hearing on the Philadelphia School District's 2011-12 budget, the first in a series to be held citywide.

THIS TIME NEXT YEAR, if you want your kid to play high-school basketball, you might have to pay for private-school tuition. And if the marching band is more their thing, start saving for private music lessons. Aiming to erase a projected $629 million budget shortfall created largely by slashed state support, Philadelphia public-school officials yesterday swung a big ax at the 167,000-student district's budget, proposing drastic changes - such as reopening union contracts and changing state law to decrease support for charter schools - that skeptics say are unlikely to happen.

The Philadelphia School District's projected budget shortfall for the 2011-12 school year has ballooned to $629 million, and top administrators Wednesday outlined draconian measures they said they were prepared to take to balance it. The district plans to cut the central office staff in half by eliminating 413 positions; reopen contract negotiations with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and other district unions; reduce transportation and...

The projected shortfall in the Philadelphia School District's next budget has ballooned to $629 million, and top administrators today outlined draconian measures they said they were prepared to take to balance it. The district plans to cut the central office staff in half by eliminating 413 positions; reopen contract negotiations with the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers and other district unions; reduce transportation and full-service meals;...

Gov. Corbett's proposed budget would eliminate intake workers at city homeless shelters, reduce counseling services for people with HIV, and dramatically cut after-school programs for children, Philadelphia's health commissioner said Friday. Donald Schwarz told a group of state senators from Philadelphia that Corbett's proposals also would reduce spending on programs that get rid of lead in children's homes. He said the budget would eliminate nutrition education for hundreds of poor children and their parents.

Philadelphia School District officials are staring down a gap of $430 million or more in next year's budget, and the deficit could surpass the half-billion mark under worst-case scenarios, according to officials briefed on the district's finances. In October, the district's chief financial officer, Michael Masch, warned the public that the 2011-12 budget could be grim, with $234 million in stimulus money drying up without funds to replace it. Additional costs for staffing, health benefits and charter schools have made the situation worse, according to one of the sources briefed on the looming crisis.

The $98 million the Philadelphia School District expects to receive under the federal Education Jobs Bill could not have come at a better time, according to the district's chief financial officer. The district expects to get $49 million this school year which will make up for lost revenue in its $3.2 billion budget, Michael Masch told the School Reform Commission Wednesday. For starters, the money helps replace $55 million in state aid the district did not receive, he said.

The city controller, in an audit released yesterday, criticized the Philadelphia School District for misplacing thousands of dollars' worth of property. But the district pointed out that only an extremely small amount of district materials was unaccounted for, showing that it actually demonstrates sound management. Auditors, who conducted the report for fiscal year 2009, included a sample of 50 items from seven schools and found items missing at each school. Of the items, 60 percent, worth up to $50,000, could not be located, according to the report.