As Chicago Public Schools works to stabilize its worsening finances, the District moved this week to take the unprecedented step of reducing school budgets midyear. Along with administrative cuts in January and eliminating the pension pick up, the reductions are expected to save the District $335 million on an annual basis. In meetings with principals from every school in the District, CPS leadership and budget officials provided adjusted school budgets that reflect $120 million in annualized cuts, $85 million of which will be realized in the current fiscal year. A detailed spreadsheet showing today’s school-by-school adjustments will be available upon request, after all principals have received their budgets.

The District has also obtained approval to use Title I and Title II grant funds to continue some functions at schools and mitigate some of the cuts. As a result of shifting Title I and Title II funds that must be used to address poverty, schools with high populations of low-income students will see the least impact to their budgets. Approximately $41 million in Title I and Title II funds will be redirected to schools, instead of being used as funds that are directed by the Central Office for programmatic funding or held in reserve. In turn, some centralized programs currently funded with Title I and Title II dollars will be cut or scaled back in the coming school year. A full list of impacted programs will be provided in coming days.