(Courtesy of the Roosevelt School District)

A multi-million dollar budgeting error has forced the Roosevelt School District to cut jobs for the next school year.

The district spent about $3.1 million more than it should have during Fiscal Year 2015, said Charles Tack, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Education. 

To make up the difference, Roosevelt’s Governing Board chose to slash 33 positions for next year. The cuts were mostly administrative, including some assistant principals, as well as staff that support teachers in subjects like math, reading and science.    

The board tried to make cuts that would have the smallest impact on students, said Joseph Ortiz, director of public and community relations for the district.

“When you’ve got a shortage of positions, somebody has got to pick up the slack,” Ortiz said. “Eventually, at some point, there is a drop off. You just hope that it’s not a great big drop off.”

The person who oversaw the budget when the error occurred resigned in April, and district officials have not uncovered anything to make them suspect the act was criminal, Ortiz said.

“At this time there is no reason to believe that there’s anything like that,” Oritz said. “Nothing nefarious like that.”
 
It's unclear why no one noticed the error, Ortiz said. But district officials are working to find answers, and put safe guards in place so it doesn’t happen again.

Roosevelt is a predominantly Hispanic, K-8 district with 19 schools. It’s south Phoenix’s largest employer.