Blaine School Board delayed a vote on a reduced educational program Monday night, April 22 after teachers, staff and community members packed the meeting in opposition to the cuts.
Board members will now vote Monday, April 29 on a plan to eliminate over 30 positions to help the district overcome its expected deficit of $2.5 million. The proposed budget reduction includes eliminating a K–5 principal, the two library tech support positions (the district currently has no librarians), and other reductions. As proposed, it amounts to an 11% reduction in administrative staff, a 12% reduction in classified staff and an 11% reduction in certificated staff.
Staff at the April 22 meeting said they were concerned the proposed cuts will continue to increase the workload on remaining staff and make the student experience worse at Blaine schools.
Last year, the district eliminated 59.5 positions, according to The Northern Light.
Michelle Schulz, a third-grade teacher at Blaine Elementary, said in a public comment that she was concerned about the school district’s enrollment decline. The district’s enrollment currently sits at around 2,023 students, and it’s expecting a decrease to 1980.9 next year, according to a business office report.
“We must do better, we must be creative and responsive to families and our needs to keep kids safe,” Schulz said. “We need to keep class sizes at the recommended level. Otherwise, families will leave.”
Superintendent Christopher Granger said at the meeting that no administrators want to make these cuts, but they must balance the budget. Granger and board members criticized the state’s failure to fully fund education at the meeting.
The district must make between $2.5 and $2.7 million in reductions in this year’s budget, Granger said. Beyond the staff reductions, the district will also make $500,000 in non-personnel expenditure reductions in the upcoming budget.
Once the plan passes, the superintendent is still able to make adjustments to retain more staff or change positions that will be eliminated, Granger said.
“This is no way representative of what the final outcome will be, but it’s a place to start,” he said.
Board President Cliff Freeman thanked all the staff and community members for coming out to the meeting, and said the proposed cuts were “painful” but necessary.
Rather than voting on the plan April 22, new board member Ryan Swinburnson proposed the board table the motion until next Monday April 29. He said he needed more time to process the dozens of emails he had received on the cuts and asked community members to propose alternatives to the district’s plan.
“I want to be able to say, this is why we had to cut a library staff person, this is why we had to cut special education,” Swinburnson said. “I can’t answer why those cuts are the best cuts, and I think that’s what everybody deserves.”
The motion passed unanimously.
Shane Levetsovitis, chapter president of Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the union for classified staff in the Blaine School District, called the tabling of the motion for one week a win. He said SEIU will be bringing forward an alternate plan that eliminates fewer student-facing positions at next week’s meeting.
Charlotte Alden is CDN’s general assignment/enterprise reporter; reach her at charlottealden@cascadiadaily.com; 360-922-3090 ext. 123.
