PORT ANGELES — The Port Angeles School Board anticipates operating with about 27 fewer teachers in the 2009-2010 school year, authorizing Superintendent Gary Cohn to send notices to about 45 teachers with the understanding that 18 probably will be hired back.
At its Monday meeting, the board slashed about $2.56 million from next year’s budget, saving about four secretarial positions and the student assistance program, and delaying a decision on whether to have a common late start or early release at all levels.
The reason for the giving notice to teachers — and then rehiring them — is that the district will lay off teachers in a “bottom up formula,” Cohn said.
The district will lay off a large number, and then rehire teachers for programs or grade levels at which they are needed instead of trying to guess which programs will need teachers and at what levels, Cohn said.
“In 29 years in public education and several years in industry, I’ve never seen cuts to basic programs like these,” he said.
“It will take several weeks to work through the details of the funding cuts and the initial and subsequent impacts on individuals in our professional ranks.
“We will be asking for assistance from our associations, from our local government partners, and from private partners to bridge the many gaps created by these funding cuts.
Hopes more rehired
Cohn also said he was hopeful that more than just 18 teachers could be hired back once rules for Title I funding and other federal funding are clarified.
The board decided by consensus not to alter any of the cuts that were a direct result of the state Legislature’s reductions to a special fund approved by voters in 2000 through Initiative 728 — referred to as the I-728 fund — which pays for special programs such as full-day kindergarten and reduced class size.
Those cuts alone resulted in 14 full-time teacher positions.
As the discussion began, distressed board members rubbed their foreheads and eyes.
Some audience members watched them intently, while others shed silent tears.
“District and state reductions damage classrooms and teachers,” said Barry Burnett, president of the Port Angeles Education Association, which represents the teachers in the district.
“They represent a disproportionate pain to teachers and classrooms in the form of salary reduction and reductions in force.
“We’re very concerned about damage these reductions will have on teachers and classrooms and students.”
Elimination of teachers funded by the I-728 funds amounted to the largest cut, at $537,053.
“I am adamantly against this — but there isn’t anything I can do about it,” board member Lonnie Linn said.
“As federal stimulus funds work their way into our state systems, I’m cautiously optimistic that we will receive sufficient dollars to backfill, to some extent, several of the budget cuts defined during the public board meeting Monday night,” board President Steve Baxter said.
“With an expected effect to some of our bargained agreements, the board will meet, discuss options and take action as required.”
Full-day kindergarten
Two elementary principals — Doug Hayman of Roosevelt and Michelle Olsen of Jefferson — pleaded with the board to keep full-day kindergarten, a topic the board did not discuss.
“The first-grade teachers are ready to teach at a higher level for those students coming out of full-day kindergarten,” Hayman said.
He said the school is keeping the curriculum for the program, just in case.
“I don’t have all the data to pour on you, but I am in the elementary schools about 60 hours a week,” he said.
“I can tell you dollar-for-dollar, full-day kindergarten is the best money you spend in the elementary schools.”
The board said the district would wait to see if it could use federal Title I funds to reduce class size districtwide or to fund full-day kindergarten.
The district is expecting some federal money for special education, and the possibility to apply for more grants is still out there, Cohn said.
He said it would be irresponsible to depend on receiving the money.
“That means the levy money we are now using for special education could be used, for example, to reduce class size — and partially make up for the loss of I-728 funds,” Cohn said.
“At this moment, I’ve not received any official announcement of the availability of such funds.
The board expects to revert back to half-day kindergarten with an extended-day option for some students.
Also included in the cuts was the elimination of one position in the administrative office — which was a result of a reorganization instigated by Cohn earlier this year. That elimination will save the district $82,843.
The district’s “leadership team” — made up of principals, district administrative staff and a few others — also volunteered to give up their incremental raises for the second year in a row, saving the district $33,768.
Lose students
The district is expecting to lose about 140 students in each the 2009-2010 school year and the 2010-2011 year, Cohn said.
Next year, the board could be considering how to cut another $1 million.
“Everything is on the table at this point,” Baxter said.
“Having to make business decisions, at this extraordinary level, that impact the quality of education in our schools is, by far, the most painful and difficult work we could ever expect to have to engage in.”
For more information and the list of potential cuts, which will be formally approved when they are adopted into the budget in the summer, visit www.portangelesschools.org.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
