City Council Approves Gap Funding for School Budget

City Councilors unanimously approved a $3.5 million dollar transfer Tuesday, to help the School Department close a budget gap for the fiscal year ending on June 30th.

But several councilors took Mayor Jon Mitchell to task for his handling of the situation, and negotiating teacher salary increases without knowing how far in deficit the schools were.

Ward Five councilor Jane Gonsalves still has unanswered questions about the management of the school's finances during that time.

The Council transferred $1.9 million dollars to the schools last December to fund the new teacher contract. Tuesday's move closes the books on a fiscal year that saw the Council transfer over $6 million dollars more to that department than originally budgeted.

Over 200 staff are expected to be laid off in the Fiscal 2014 budget, which the City Council will review at their final budgeting meeting Thursday night.