EAST ORANGE, N.J. — Schools in East Orange, New Jersey will be on a half day schedule for the second straight day Friday after the district announced it will be laying off dozens of employees.
The school district posted on its website shortly before classes began Thursday, saying, “Due to unforeseen circumstances, all schools will be on a half day schedule today, October 17th. We apologize for the late notice.”
A parent told CBS News New York they received a voicemail Thursday evening saying Friday will be a half day as well.
Students and parents said the shortened day was due to a large amount of teachers who called out sick.
Superintendent Dr. Christopher Irving, who has only been on the job for three months, says unfortunately there was no other choice. He says the district was facing a $6-8 million deficit coming into the school year, and it’s now ballooned to about $25 million. Without cuts, it won’t be able to make payroll by the spring.
“We did not do our due diligence in, quite frankly, understanding what the financial reality was as soon as we started the school year,” Irving said.
It’s not clear why the school board waited until October – after the school year began – to make cuts.
“We want to get out of this place that we are in. But to do that, we have to make some really tough decisions,” Irving said.
East Orange officials release statement on cuts
“We want to emphasize to all members of the East Orange school community that these adjustments are being made with careful consideration and will not diminish the quality of education that our students receive. Many of our instructional coaches, who possess valuable classroom experience, will transition back into school environments, thereby facilitating a seamless learning experience for our students even amidst the adjustments,” East Orange Mayor Ted Green, Irving, and board president Andrea McPhatter said in a joint statement.
“Our unwavering priority is to ensure a quality education for every student,” they added. “Although this solution was far from ideal, we are eager to address this budgetary shortfall head on and move forward with the work of restoring faith in our district’s capacity to deliver an excellent education to all of our students.”
“The worst fear is that we have no teachers”
As kids were let out of East Orange STEM Academy, emotions were running high.
“I feel like one of my teachers was affected because I saw her crying,” sixth grader Gabriella DeWoolf said.
“It does make us a little bit worried, because now we’re going to have our kids more condensed than they were. Because if they don’t have the teachers for the classrooms, which already have about 30 students a class, now how many kids are going to be in a class per teacher?” parent Keyonda Williams said.
“The worst fear is that we have no teachers. That we have no teachers, that we have to then transfer our kids out of East Orange School District,” Whitney Houston Academy PTO president Jazmine Parker said. “Let’s support the teachers. Let’s support the community. Let’s make it right for our students. They are the first and most important line of defense, and we need to do right by them.”
“We’re kind of just in the middle of it. And it’s hurting us because our education is on the line,” DeWoolf said.
Parents and students told CBS News New York at drop-off they were blindsided by the news.
“What can we do? Unless they’re going to increase our taxes, what are we going to pay them? Because if the budget is not there, that’s the real issue,” Williams said.
Her daughter, Niah Anderson-Elliott, said her math teacher was among the cuts.
“Really that’s my favorite teacher, and she helps me understand more better with math. I sometimes have a hard time with math, and she breaks it down for me,” the daughter said.
Williams added it’s another blow to kids who may already be behind because of the pandemic.
Emergency meeting held to address job cuts
The East Orange School District held an emergency meeting Thursday night to hear concerns from parents and students.
“This is tragic. This is disheartening. This is distasteful, the fact the Board of Education has allowed this city, has allowed the funding to be such a deficit right now,” Parker said.
“My first grader’s back-to-school list was paper towel and printing paper. Like, it’s not pencils and a bookbag no more,” parent Kristen Williams said.
Preschool teacher Allison Tilley is angry she was hired before the start of the school year, only to find out Wednesday she’s out of a job.
“Why was then I hired– coming from another district, I’m hired, to be then let go when I could have been somewhere else?” she said.
“I’m sorry. I am deeply sorry,” Irving told her.
The schools superintendent says the district took a half day because many of the families and teachers were mentally exhausted.
“Our morale at the school is down. The morale in the school district is down. The morale in the city is down … There are really no words, it’s only emotions right now,” Parker said.
Irving says without more state funding, this is the reality the district is facing.
