Are Youngstown teaching staff cuts coming?

YOUNGSTOWN — The chairman of a fiscal oversight commission helping the Youngstown City Schools recover from a budget deficit said there may be an opportunity to reduce the number of teachers   based on a state analysis of the district.

Roger Nehls, speaking at a commission meeting today, said that, based on the number of regular classroom teachers employed in Youngstown as compared to state minimum staffing requirements and staffing by other comparable districts, Youngstown may be able to cut some teachers.

It's not possible to predict the number at this point, but reducing staff is the only way to significantly reduce the size of the deficit which is now expected to reach $11.5 million this year, he said.

Youngstown has 334 classroom teachers for 6,002 pupils in its regular education programs. The state staffing minimum for that populaton is 240, but Nehls said he isn't sure that any school district should operate at minimum state staffing levels.

The commission wants to have at least a preliminary version of a fiscal recovery plan in hand by early March.