More Than 300 Layoff Notices Go Out to City Schools Employees

The district is not letting go any teachers in this round of layoffs, which are unrelated to the stalled cigarette tax.

Philadelphia School District Building

The Philadelphia School District is sending out 342 layoff notices to employees of the school district; they will go out either Thursday or Friday.

No teachers appear to be in this round of layoffs. It is mostly special education classroom assistants and aides who are being laid off. The hundreds of layoffs are not related to delayed cigarette tax or Governor Corbett’s line-item veto of the budget.

The layoffs are not based on seniority; officials told the Inquirer they believe non-teacher employees can be fired without regard to seniority. The 342 layoffs include 157 special education classroom assistants and 147 noon-time aides. The rest of the layoffs include one sign language interpreter and three conflict resolution specialists.

The layoffs are effective July 31.

[Inquirer]