Yellow Pages
ANACORTES — An unknown number of teachers and support staff will be laid off before the next school year begins, Anacortes School District Superintendent Chris Borgen said Thursday night.
The reduction in force will be announced to affected employees “the sooner the better,” Borgen said. He said he’s been in communication with several employee groups over the past month.
The district will have to cut roughly 7.5 percent of its $28 million budget, about $2.1 million for the 2009-2010 school year.
Borgen said the district is assuming 175 fewer students enrolling in class next year, from the current population of 2,765. State-level budget cuts will be the majority of the cuts.
While Finance Director Lisa Matthews called the figure a “moving target,” School Board member Kris Lytton said the cuts could go deeper.
Lytton had just returned from a full-day trip to Olympia with board member Jeanette Papadakis. Lytton had testified before the state Senate education committee in favor of a proposal to fully fund basic education. Papadakis said the state’s two-year budget deficit forecast has now ballooned to $7 billion.
“There will be impacts to our classrooms. We will not be able to avoid that. ... We may have bigger cuts than that,” Lytton said during the Thursday board meeting. “I feel bad for kids.”
Borgen could have discussions with some affected staff by early February, according to a timeline in a document posted on the agenda for Thursday’s meeting on the district Web site. The timeline also states that laid-off employees will be given time to attend a regional career fair in March or April.
Teacher contracts must be signed by May 15 for the following school year.
Since the beginning of this school year, the district has had to cut roughly $660,000 from the budget. Lower-than-expected student enrollment was the cause of much of the shortfall.
The district has attempted to make up the funds by instituting a district-wide hiring freeze, cutting off district-paid field trips and digging into the cash reserves by 0.5 percent, about $140,000.
Borgen said the cuts to this point have been made away from the classroom. No longer, Lytton said.
“I’m concerned that people understand what the implications of what next year is going to look like,” she said.
In other action, the School Board voted to apply for federal stimulus funds from five different organizations. So far, it is not clear which organization will distribute the funds.
“We’re just covering all our bases so when those monies do come, we should be close to the top for consideration,” said Dale Bowen, director of operations.
Projects mostly include repairs to district buildings, such as a roof replacement for the career and technical education wing of the high school.
Kate Martin can be reached at 360-416-2145 or at .
