COUPEVILLE: District secretaries overworked after cuts (WNT)
Luisa Loi reports on an interview with secretaries in the Coupeville School District for the Whidbey News-Times.
Secretaries working in the Coupeville School District are overworked and concerned about the wellbeing of their coworkers and students.
In a series of letters sent to the school board in late 2023, a group of secretaries detailed their struggles amid the changes brought by the budget cuts, which were approved last spring in an attempt to pull the district out of its dire financial state. Last week, this situation prompted a $400,000 interfund loan to help pay salaries and accounts payable for January.
They Said It
As a result of… staff reductions, employees are scrambling to keep students safe while trying to get their main tasks done during their workday, leaving little to no time to go to the restroom or eat lunch. However, with [a recently-added] substitute, it’s been easier for some to take lunch breaks, LaRue said in an interview on Feb. 1.
According to LaRue, secondary campus secretaries regularly work over eight hours every day because of their increased duties and unexpected events involving students and families. Though they put in extra work, LaRue said the secretaries have not been properly compensated, as they need prior permission from their supervisor and the district.
Though Superintendent Steve King instructed them to leave at the end of their shift, according to LaRue, the secretaries don’t have the support they need to complete their tasks without distractions or to leave with the certainty that unsupervised students will be safe.…
Mainly, the secretaries agreed, the fault lies in the state, which is underfunding schools. For this reason, LaRue encourages community members to reach out to their local representatives and tell them why the complete funding of public schools is necessary.…
Though budget cuts were necessary, LaRue said, they should be made wisely.
“When our health and the safety of our students becomes so affected that we feel we have to go public with some of these things, it’s really time to take a look at what decisions are being made,” she said.
