CPS giving schools some money early to ease pain

As many Chicago Public Schools lament ugly cuts to their budgets based on a new district budgeting style, schools CEO Barbara ByrdBennett said Wednesday she’s handing over $36 million of state money that usually would be held off until fall.

“These dollars, which normally have been issued to schools in October or November of every year, will better enable you to plan for your budget in advance of the school year and to offset some of the negative impacts,” Byrd-Bennett told CPS principals in a letter. “This will represent a permanent reform to our budget process moving forward.”

The money — supplemen- tal general state aid — will be doled out according to the percentage of poor kids at each school, according to the district. Details about how much each school will receive are not available. Schools will get their share by July 15, a few weeks before the district expects to publish final individual school budgets.

“As I have said many times before, everything is on the table as we work to finalize our budget and close this deficit,” Byrd-Bennett wrote. “I have decided, with concurrence from the Board, to act immediately on a long overdue reform to our budget process.”

CPS launched a studentbased budgeting system for the upcoming school year, meaning each school gets a fixed amount of money per child to spend as it sees fit, rather than a set number of staff positions.

The district has touted the budgeting system as a way to give principals more autonomy over their schools, but at many schools in wealthy and poor neighborhoods alike, the result has been less money per school than last year.

Though the district hasn’t released any of the draft budgets, principals, parents and Local School Council members have leaked details and denounced the cuts. The parent group Raise Your Hand has collected details totaling at least $84 million in cuts districtwide, including $4 million at Kelly High School, 4136 S. California — so far the largest amount in the district.