The Camden City School District told employees Monday that it will be laying off 31 teachers and 46 student services staff members as a result of budget cuts and declining enrollment, Philly.com reports.
The district will also cut 15 staff members from the central office, which has lost about half its positions over the last two years.
"It's a brutal process," Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard told Philly.com. "These are individuals who do a lot for the school district, and there's nothing easy about these decisions."
The district laid off 206 teachers at the end of the last school year but ultimately called back about 100. This year, Rouhanifard said, he worked with the teachers' union to get early numbers for how many teachers were retiring or resigning. As a result, the district is unlikely to recall anyone laid off this time.
Attendance in the city's traditional schools is expected to drop from 10,000 this year to a projected 8,500 next year, officials said.
Affected employees have been informed. District officials are expected to announce the layoffs at the advisory school board's meeting Tuesday.
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