SEQUIM – Like a lot of people who’ve grown up here, Sequim High School student Ariana Briseno wants to get out, go to college, start a career – and come back to her hometown.
“I want to raise a family here,” she said.
But if and when she returns to Sequim with a husband and young children, they may face a financially unfriendly environment.
“This is a hard place to live for young families,” said Sequim School District Superintendent Garn Christensen.
And a shortage of livable-wage jobs, he added, is translating into shrinking enrollment.
The falling-enrollment predicament that has befallen many school districts – from Seattle to Port Angeles – is starting to happen in Sequim, Christensen said.
By next fall, he expects the number of students in Sequim’s five schools to drop by about 100.
“When I look at that many, I see a loss of half a million dollars” in state funding for the district, the superintendent said, adding that he believes his district will see the trend continue through the decade.
While he does not believe Sequim will go the way of some districts – such as Port Angeles – that have been forced to close schools, Christensen predicts budget cuts will come with dwindling numbers of children.
