Bristol School District To Slash Staff By 60, Entire School

Bristol Township announced the need to cut scores of staff members during a special Bristol School District board meeting.

Students, parents and teachers packed the auditorium at Benjamin Franklin Freshman Academy on Thursday night.

"This is a difficult time for me because nothing we are going to put in front of you is ultimately going to be any good for our kids," said Bristol Township Superintendent Dr. Samuel Lee to the heart-wrenched crowd.

Officials said Gov. Tom Corbett's newly proposed, limited-spending 2011 budget in which education spending drastically downsized, made for the district's difficult decision.

The proposed budget reduction will liquidate the Benjamin Franklin Freshman Academy and it will consolidate back into Truman High School.

Sixty staff members, including secretaries, nurses, custodians and teachers spanning the district's 12 elementary, junior high and secondary schools, will also face lay offs.

The current plan affects 28 high school teachers. It includes seven math teachers, four English teachers, three science teachers, one social studies teacher, two physical education teachers, one art teacher, three music teachers, one guidance councilor, one librarian, three special education teachers and two business teachers. 

Several programs are also being seriously considered for removal from the budget, including advanced placement courses, full-day kindergarten, French and German language courses and possibly co-curricular activities.

"We are literally backed in a corner when it comes to trying to deliver a quality education to our kids. We are distraught by this, but we have no choice," Lee said.

The measures are an attempt to balance the 2011 budget -- currently $6 million in the red. More than $4 million of that is due to the state budget's reduction of general education grants and funding. The remaining $1.7 million is due to the growing problem of a depleting tax revenue stream as many resident's homes quickly become devalued, and even more residents move out of the township completely.

The school board has a small window of time to finalize the plans on the budget proposal. The deadline for the draft will be May 9, and must be approved by June 30 at the latest.

Despite the seeming futility, some board members said they hold out hope that their representatives in Harrisburg's State Assembly will manage to defeat the governor's budget.

"Parents, teachers; what you need to do now is to write, to call, the governor. He needs to know what his Draconian budget will do to our school kids," Bristol Township School Board member Earl Bruck said.