Rochester City Council voted 6-3 on Tuesday to approve the $915 million school budget for the 2018-19 school year.

It avoids layoffs and will add over 100 new positions in areas such as special education, literacy and bilingual studies. 

The district plans to add 143 teachers.

The budget is nearly $200 million more than the current school year.

Rochester Board of Education Commissioner Beatriz Lebron sent a letter to the council earlier this week outlining a list of concerns over the budget.

The approval leaves the fund balance at just $8 million.

The Board of Education says that it requested extra funds in order to pay teachers during the financial gap. In the past the district gave pink slips teachers while waiting for federal grants to come through.

RCSD Board of Education Chair Willa Powell said that this led to talented teachers leaving the district for more secure positions.

"If that means that we take the money out of our savings account and it never gets replenished, that's what we do. Because that's the stability that our children need, even if it's not the stability that our finance people need," said Powell.

"Typically for them the practice has been once they do this to close their gap they get federal grants in and then they put the money back. The issue is the fund balance in itself has been getting smaller and smaller, so at some point you can't go to the well," said Rochester City Council Finance Chair Adam McFadden.

McFadden says that while the district is not facing bankruptcy,they are facing financial stress.

He publicly asked for regular meetings throughout the school year to monitor finances, something that Powell says the Board of Ed would be open to.