BUFFALO, N.Y. — Programs that help Buffalo students catch up academically after the pandemic are headed for a “financial cliff” because federal aid is winding down. At stake are more than 300 positions for everything from teaching and after-school programming to school security to mental health counseling.
Buffalo Public Schools will face cuts about a year from now, when the remainder of $290 million in Covid-19 relief funding through the American Rescue Plan ends.
“The financial cliff, it’s coming for all of us,” said James Barnes, the district’s chief financial officer. “The funding is going away. That amount of money cannot be absorbed into our general fund.”