Pink slips for 290 Philadelphia School District employees

The Philadelphia School District on Friday sent notices to approximately 290 employees, mostly school support staff, that they would no longer have their jobs at the end of the month.

District spokesman Fernando Gallard said the breakdown of categories of jobs being cut will likely not be released until Wednesday, after all the notifications were received in the mail.

The layoffs will be effective June 30.

"This is a difficult step to take, but unfortunately there are changes that schools make to prepare for the new year school year, most of these are school-based decisions in which schools are choosing the resources that they need," Gallard said.

Philadelphia Federation of Teachers president Jerry Jordan said he was notified that about 260 members of his union would be laid off. The two largest groups affected, he said, included school support personnel and counselors.

"Certainly, it's a very gloomy day," Jordan said. "Our phones have been ringing off the hook because of the impending notices. It's devastating, it's absolutely devastating."

It was unclear where the approximately 30 additional job cuts would be made.