HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) - The Hattiesburg Public School District says it will lay off 53 employees in the latest in a series of cost-cutting measures.
The Hattiesburg American (https://hatne.ws/1TBYlgY ) reports that the school district’s interim superintendent, Greg Ladner, sent layoff notices to the employees last week.
District spokesman Jas Smith said 25 of the employees being let go are teachers. The others are district staff and administrative personnel. Some of the employees are contract employees.
Smith said the layoffs are effective July 1. He added that the layoffs are not concentrated in any one school.
The move comes after the district was left with $768,000 in its fund balance when Superintendent James Bacchus resigned last year, officials said. Bacchus left the district with a deficit in the 2014-15 budget, which interim superintendent Greg Ladner has been addressing with a spending freeze, salary cuts and layoffs.
Ladner had informed district employees of potential salary and job cuts earlier in the year. He has pledged not to make any cuts that would hurt academics.
___
Information from: The Hattiesburg American, https://www.hattiesburgamerican.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.