Non-Renewal Recalls Set To Begin At Pittsfield Public Schools

The Pittsfield Public Schools will begin recalling staff given non-renewal notices now that a budget has been put into place.

IBerkshires.com reports that superintendent Jason McCandless told the School Committee last week that there will be recalls of some of the 140 non-renewal notices that were sent out before the $64 million budget was passed.

Pittsfield passed an education budget that relied on at least level state aid and did so without a firm Chapter 70 education aid number to build the budget around.

The publication reports that this version of the budget equates to the minimal loss of actual jobs. The district however released 140 non-renewal notices in preparation for a possible 10 percent reduction in aid, without being able to say for sure what Chapter 70 will be. The move was in anticipation of a more than worst-case scenario.