Springfield Public Schools officials on Monday elaborated on the cuts for next school year they announced late Friday afternoon — saying the district is eliminating the equivalent of 142 positions through attrition, separation and reduction of teaching days. 

The staff cuts for 2025-26 are cuts the district has known would happen for more than three years as COVID-relief funding runs out.

The reductions were first announced late Friday afternoon to staff members. They are part of an effort to trim the district’s budget by $15 million over the next two school years. 

It is part of a budget process that will be completed before July 1, the start of the district’s fiscal year. The Board of Education usually approves the budget for the next school year in June. About 80% of that budget accounts for salaries and benefits of the more than 3,800 employees in the district.

Of the positions cut: 

• 15 are the combined hours represented by a reduction of certain employees’ teaching days.

• 68 are separations, or positions that will be removed in next year’s budget.

• 59 are through attrition, or positions being left vacant that will not be filled.

Superintendent Grenita Lathan said most of these positions were hired when the district saw an infusion of federal aid related to COVID recovery. In September of 2021, as the district hired these new positions to help deal with learning loss and other issues, Lathan said the board knew these positions would likely be temporary.

“At the same time, we were preparing ourselves for when those dollars went away,” Lathan said. “Part of that preparation was that any positions that we added to our overall budget, we would need to look at a reduction of those positions over the next several years.”

Known as ESSER funds, the district in June budgeted for a loss of about $30.3 million in revenue.

According to preliminary numbers, the district can reduce $8,579,988 in salaries and benefits with these reductions. Combined with $1,920,108 from reductions of services and supplies, the district has made $10,500,096 in cuts toward that $15 million target.

That will help keep raises in place for the teachers in the district, Lathan said, and will prevent the need to cut educational programs, such as the district’s SPS Choice programs. 

With a handful of exceptions, no single department saw a tremendous reduction. The positions include a range of responsibilities, from IT and custodial positions to library and nutrition workers. 

Several teaching positions were cut through a right-sizing process triggered by enrollment shifts, the district said. 

One of the biggest areas for reductions was in instructional coaches — 20 positions were eliminated in the announcement. However, those workers have been able to be retained in a new specialist position. 

The board in October approved a $1,500 incentive bonus to staff members who informed the district of their intent to work in another district next school year. That incentive now gives some of the targeted employees a chance to find another position in SPS. 

The district, under its collective bargaining agreement with teachers, posts open jobs by the first Friday in January every year. That process helped people targeted by a round of cuts last year to stay with the district.

“Anyone that met the qualifications as it relates to certification or performance, that wanted a job and to remain in our district, they were able to do that,” Lathan said. “It did mean some people moved into other positions, but they were able to continue to be gainfully employed with SPS.”

This is a developing report and will be updated.