SOUTH WHIDBEY: School district to cut budget by 10% [VIDEO] (SWR)
Kira Erickson reports for the South Whidbey Record from the South Whidbey School District board meeting on Wed., Apr. 26, 2023.
Faced with a revenue shortage, the South Whidbey School District must make significant budget cuts over the next two years that will ultimately have an impact on staff.
The district is currently aiming to reduce its total budget for the 2023-2024 school year by 10.4%, which amounts to about $2.4 million dollars.
Dan Poolman, the district’s assistant superintendent, presented this grave news to the school board during its regular meeting in April. A combination of declining enrollment, inflation and loss of federal and state funds have contributed to the budget shortfall.
They Said It
Salaries and employee benefits make up 87% of the district’s budget. Poolman explained that within the last six years, salaries have increased by 41% while state and local levy funds have only increased by 14%.
Superintendent Jo Moccia said in an email to The Record that some staff will be reduced by attrition, such as retirements or resignations, while others won’t return because they are serving temporary contracts just for this school year that won’t be renewed.
Poolman explained in an email that two teachers will potentially be laid off, unless another teacher plans to retire, in which case it might only be one.
As both Poolman and Moccia pointed out during the board meeting, the South Whidbey School District’s position is not unique; many other school districts in the state are also making budget cuts, including the two other districts on the island.
“Mukilteo, right across the water, their budget cut is more than our budget is,” Moccia said. “So this is a devastating situation across the state. But I just wanted to be really clear that it wasn’t without a fight, without pointing it out, without discussing it, without lobbying the individual legislators that made these decisions.”
The district’s budget remains a work in progress, Moccia said, and will be finalized in July.
On the Ballot in November 2023
| SOUTH WHIDBEY SCHOOL DISTRICT (NO. 206) |
| Directors: Three of the five director positions are scheduled to be on the ballot. Position 1: Joe Greenheron. Candidates for Position 1 must live in director district 1; see the map at this link. Director Greenheron was appointed after the resignation of Damian Greene. This election will be for the remainder of Greene’s term, which ends Dec. 31, 2023, and the succeeding four-year full term, which ends Dec. 31, 2027. Position 3: Brook Willeford. Candidates for Position 3 must live in director district 3; see the map at this link. Position 4: Marnie Jackson. Position 4 is an “at large” position; candidates may live anywhere in the district. |
