Members of the public will have their first chance to speak out Wednesday regarging a $95.1 million budget for the Enlarged City School District of Troy.

The public hearing is scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. on May 6 in the Doyle Middle School auditorium.

On April 1, the Board of Education unanimously adopted the budget, which included plans to remove a total 62.8 fulltime equivalent positions by the end of June to balance the district's finances.

In addition, members of the Troy Teacher's Association will hold a rally outside of the auditorium beginning at 5:30 p.m, according to TTA President Seth Cohen.

"The idea is that it’s not a protest, but it’s for support of the 50-odd members of our association that have been laid off," said Cohen.

Residents will vote on whether to approve the proposed budget on May 19.

The Enlarged City School District of Troy is expected to lay off more than 60 employees by the end of its fiscal year.

The layoffs are part of an effort to balance a proposed $95.11 million that the Board of Education adopted on April 1. That budget will soon be presented to as part of a public referendum on May 19.

Board of Education President Jason Schofield said that the layoffs would be spread across the district’s three labor unions — the Troy Teachers Association, the Troy Administrators Union, and the Civil Service Employees Association.

Roughly 50 teachers will be laid off under the proposal. The district's business department, certain foreign language programs, and Troy High School's theater department will also likely be affected by the cuts.

Read more about the issue in Wednesday's edition of The Record.

Members of the Board of Education will meet tonight to discuss what could be a final proposal for the school district's 2009-2010 budget.

Two weeks ago the district asked the three unions representing its employees - the Troy Teachers Association, the Troy Administrators Union, and the Civil Service Employees Association - to forgo pay increases for the upcoming school year in order to save them from layoffs.

The district could be forced to utilized layoffs as a result of decreased state funding, however Gov. David Paterson has said that some of the state's federal stimulus money could be used to restore those aid cuts.

The board is scheduled to meet starting between 7 and 7:30 p.m. tonight at Doyle Middle School, located at 1976 Burdett Ave.

A budget must be adopted by April 1.