The first report on the Rochester City School District budget by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's staff says the RCSD will need to cut its budget by another $40.5 million by the end of the school year on June 30th. The state says the district underestimated its deficit this year by about $6 million.
The comptroller's report says the school district's previous administration both underestimated spending and overestimated its revenues last year to the amount of nearly $62 million. Thanks to reductions already made, including the layoffs of more than 100 teachers, the district saved roughly $38 million. That leaves, according to the state, $40.5 million still to be cut. The district will get some help if the state budget is approved with Governor Cuomo's proposal of an additional $25 million aid for Rochester schools.
The report says had the district not made mid-year cuts, the deficit would have been more than $70 million by the end of June.
The district seriously underbudgeted in half-a-dozen areas, including health insurance, the cost of substitute teachers and charter school tuitions.