Pittsfield Schools Food Services Workers Facing Layoffs

It’s another tough hit to the Pittsfield Public Schools. As the schools in the city of Pittsfield are preparing to open using a remote model next week, roughly 50 employees of the food services department are facing layoffs.

The Berkshire Eagle is reporting that Superintendent Jason McCandless told the Pittsfield School Committee on Wednesday night that the district is expecting that it will need only 20 food services workers to handle meals for students during the remote learning period. That session is scheduled to begin on Tuesday. The food services department currently has 70 employees.

"There is no question that we will be looking at layoffs among our food service individuals, who really exist in a space for their work that is not within our budget… Their entire operation exists outside of our budget; it's the only piece of what we do that is self-sustaining." ~ Superintendent Jason McCandless

Kristen Behnke, the assistant superintendent of administration and finance, says that employees who are laid off would be able to retain their benefits through the month of October.

To try and lessen the impact, McCandless says the district is now in negotiations with the employee’s union to find alternative work for some impacted nutritional services workers until more kids are back in the school buildings. That, of course, would mean that more meals would need to be served.

McCandless says that the situation is not expected to impact other areas of the school system, and the district does not expect any other employee units will be hit with layoffs.

Enter your number to get our free mobile app