New York City School Officials Say $215 Million Budget Cut Is Necessary, Will Appeal Judge’s Ruling

The New York City Department of Education (DOE) is seeking to overturn a temporary restraining order that’s preventing the department from implementing $215 million in budget cuts for the 2022-2023 school year.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Lyle E. Frank ruled in favor of a group of parents and teachers who sued the city over the budget cuts, stating the department must remain within the parameters of the 2021-2022 budget instead (pdf).

Frank agreed with Frank that the city had violated state law by adopting a budget prior to the DOE advisory board approving it.

DOE Chancellor David Banks argued Thursday in Manhattan Appeals Court that Frank’s decision not to pause budget cuts but to revert back to previous years’ spending levels might have had “disastrous” effects. The Daily News report said.

Banks referred to the court’s decision as “vague” & “extraordinarily hard to interpret”. He said that the judicial order places programs in limbo and delays filling vacant positions. It also leaves unsold supplies.

” I am deeply concerned about our capacity to ensure the orderly opening schools this September,” Banks stated in an affidavit. According to the New York Post .,

Frank scheduled an Aug. 4 hearing to determine if the temporary restraining orders would be made permanent at the time of Frank’s ruling.

Falling Enrollment

City officials claim that budget reductions are required due to declining enrollment. According to officials, budgets must be adjusted each year in order to reflect changes in enrollment, shifting student needs, and the emergence of new initiatives.

Enrollment in the city’s K-12 public schools has fallen by 73,000 students since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the city’s education department is projecting enrollment to decline by an additional 30,000 students in the 2022-2023 school year, which would mean more budget cuts for schools, according to the Daily News.

The education department has argued that the restraining order issued by Frank blocks the city from increasing the budgets of over 300 schools that are projected to have higher enrollment in the upcoming school year.

Laura Barbieri was the lawyer representing the plaintiffs. She stated that the restraining orders can only be used to increase and not decrease budgets. This is according to the Daily News.