PORT ANGELES — The School Board acted Monday night to eliminate the equivalent of 5.3 full-time teaching positions and effectively cut teacher pay by about 3 percent.
All of the teacher cuts will be through attrition, district officials said, so nobody will be laid off.
Paraeducators aren’t so lucky: Many will have reduced hours and one will be laid off.
The Port Angeles School District also will begin charging other districts for special education students sent to Port Angeles, and cuts to special education programs also were made.
The 5.3 teaching positions eliminated will save the district about $427,600.
The board voted 4-0 with one abstention to cut about $1.9 million from the district’s budget as a result of about 74 fewer students in the district next year and state funding cuts.
Board President Lonnie Linn abstained because the budget included reductions to paraeducators — a position that his wife holds.
And board member Cindy Kelly, in Oklahoma because of a family emergency, listened in by telephone and voted among the majority.
The action allowed the board to rescue elementary music and middle school sports that were on the chopping block through recommendations by a committee of teachers, students, parents and community members.
Earlier Monday evening, about 10 community members spoke out, asking the board not to cut music and sports.
Teacher pay cut
The 3 percent pay cut — estimated to save about $504,000 in the 2010-11 school year — is a result of six training days that will no longer be funded by the district.
The district previously funded the positions using state money from a voter initiative which was to pay for smaller class sizes and teacher training.
Earlier this month, district officials had predicted that 15 teaching positions would need to be eliminated.
Enrollment numbers
But updated enrollment numbers indicated that retention numbers would be higher than previously predicted, said Jim Schwob, district business director.
“I am amazed that this is the first year in as far back as I can remember that we haven’t had [a reduction in force for teachers],” said board member Patti Happe.
“I know and I feel that the teachers are taking what is essentially a pay cut to keep more teachers in the classroom.
“The one thing I think is really important is how this will be a relief to the teachers, because they won’t be worrying about whether or not they will be here next year or not.”
But Barry Burnett, a fourth-grade teacher at Franklin Elementary and president of the Port Angeles Education Association, said he was not happy with the board’s decisions.
“I don’t know where the contempt for the classroom and teachers comes from,” he said.
He said the teachers’ union might pursue every legal avenue to determine if the pay cuts were legal, but would not say if a lawsuit would be a part of the plan.
The union and district administrators will begin discussions Wednesday, he said.
“We negotiated the contracts in good faith and this is something they are trying to do publicly,” he said.
Supplemental pact
Linn also said the district negotiated in good faith and that the training days — which are part of a supplemental contract — were based on money coming in from the state.
In addition to the better-than-expected enrollment numbers, the number of teachers leaving the district is also higher than expected, said Superintendent Jane Pryne.
“We had just enough [teachers] in secondary and just enough in elementary,” she said.
Some teachers will be shifted to new positions, but it will prevent the district from having to lay any off, Pryne said.
The board voted to allow seven positions in either office or paraeducator positions to be laid off.
All of those layoffs might not be used, but Pryne will have the ability depending on how the positions fall.
Board president disappointed
Linn said he was disappointed that more community members didn’t speak out for basic education and smaller class sizes.
“My life has been consumed with the budget lately,” he said.
“I had 126 e-mails.
“I have to say I had not one e-mail about the dropout rate, not one e-mail about class sizes, not one pertinent issue.
“The e-mails were all passionate items and not ones that are necessarily what is best for Port Angeles School District. I’m disappointed in our community for the lack of foresight.”
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
