40 Additional Staff Laid Off Amid Superior School District’s $4M Budget Deficit

SUPERIOR, Wis. — More employees of the Superior School district have been let go as the district tackles a $4 million deficit for the next school year.

Forty support staff members, mostly paraprofessionals, were notified this week about the layoffs, according to a district spokesperson.

This comes after 25 teachers were told last month that their positions were being eliminated.

Supt. Amy Starzecki said there are three main reasons for the cuts. She said $5 million in federal COVID money is ending this year, state funding is not keeping up with what she calls “extensive inflationary costs,” and then the issue of declining enrollment.

The district had 500 fewer elementary students last year compared to the year before the pandemic.