News

The Department of Education (DOE) may cut more money from individual school budgets in September. According to Principal Stanley Teitel, this would mean a five to eight percent decrease in Stuyvesant’s budget, amounting to a loss of 850,000 to 1.3 million dollars.

A 1.75 percent citywide budget cut was instituted midyear. Stuyvesant lost 277,000 dollars as a result.

To bridge the gap, Academic Intervention Services (AIS) tutoring was suspended in January, but Teitel said it was reinstated on Tuesday, March 25 because “we had a few extra dollars. […] We’re not talking big money, but it worked out that we were at least able to start AIS on a limited basis.”

He said that if another budget cut were to be instituted, AIS tutoring would be one of many programs that would be discontinued.

“I would be thrilled if [AIS tutoring] is all I have to cut,” Teitel said. “I’m worried about canceling classes. This cut could be substantial.”

The final budget for next year will be announced in May. Teitel said if the cut is substantial, he may be forced to limit instruction to seven periods a day.

Teitel said that as of now, students are only guaranteed their seven core classes, “what [they] need in order to get out of Stuyvesant in four years,” for next term. When students program their schedules in April for the fall term, there will be slots for ‘maybe’ classes.

“The maybes may never come to pass,” Teitel said. “It will depend on the budget.”

Extracurricular activities, such as the Speech and Debate Team, Science Olympiad, Model United Nations (UN), and Japan Bowl, could lose school funding.

According to senior and Model UN president Kevin Anderson, Model UN has never received any direct funding from Stuyvesant. In previous years, Model UN received funds from the Parents’ Association and the Student Union.

Stuyvesant pays teachers to supervise when Model UN and other clubs go on trips. According to Anderson, at the beginning of each year, clubs apply for ‘hours,’ which “boil down to the number of days that teachers are allowed to be paid for going on club trips.”

“If Mr. Teitel is saying that he’ll reduce our funding, the number of hours is probably what he’s referring to,” Anderson wrote in an e-mail interview.

In the event of a larger budget cut, classes like chorus and Math Team are at risk of being eliminated because students will only be allowed to take the core requirements.

“I can’t give you what I can’t afford. I’m certainly not advocating that chorus goes,” Teitel said. “I’m simply saying at this moment, none of you are going to be allowed to program yourselves for electives without realizing those are maybe classes.”

Next year’s budget cuts may also have an effect on staffing. According to Teitel, assistant principals have been informed that if a member of their department was to leave the school, that person may not be replaced.

Many students are upset about the consequences of future budget cuts.

“That’s really unfortunate, since I’m planning on taking extra courses,” sophomore Omar Ahmad said. “Also, if the Lacrosse team, which just got started this year, ends up getting cancelled next year, that would be frustrating.”

“I love Model UN,” sophomore Joseph Bzomowski said. “We have great fun, we do a lot of work, and it would just be horrible if it was cut.”

There is always the possibility that the budget cuts will not be as severe as Teitel expects. “Until [Teitel] knows exactly what the budget is, he won’t be making any cuts,” Assistant Principal Mathematics Maryanne Ferrara said.