PORT TOWNSEND — Based on declining state funding, Superintendent Gene Laes proposes cutting 10 full-time equivalent positions from Port Townsend School District’s teaching staff of 85.
Laes said that could amount to the layoffs of up to 16 full- and part-time teachers.
“With a [reduction in force] of 10 teachers, we are still short a half-million [dollars], and we have not looked at other approaches,” Laes said, adding the district has already combined some administrative positions to save revenue.
Those cut would have their jobs until the end of the school year, he said.
Laes will take his proposal in a resolution to the Port Townsend School Board when it meets at 6 p.m. Monday in the Lincoln Building at Port Townsend High School, 450 Fir St.
The board has the final say on the proposed teacher layoffs.
Laes, who was hired in June as interim superintendent and has since been hired as permanent superintendent, said when he was hired that he did not anticipate the state’s “financial crash” and the impact it would have on school districts.
Laes and a district budget and finance advisory committee of district officials, board members and residents have been meeting to come up with expenditure-cutting options.
Bargaining will not allow the district to cut staff after May 15, so the board must make a decision soon.
As of Thursday, the district has a total staff of 181 for its 1,271 students.
How any budget cuts will affect the district’s nonteaching employees, including maintenance, secretaries and support staff, is yet to be seen.
At the current rate, the district will finish the fiscal year in August with $85,000 in reserves, which school financial advisors said is a dangerously low level.
Put simply: Revenues are down, and expenses are up.
The shortfall for the 2010-2011 school year is $350,000, and the projected shortfall for 2011-2012 is $500,000.
Laes in March warned the school board that worsening economic times, the worst he has ever seen, were taking their toll on the district.
Laes, who has been superintendent for less than a year, has been meeting with principals at the elementary, middle and high schools to assess the state’s funding reductions and their impact on the district’s budget.
The board may not approve a final budget until late July, and Laes explained he is trying to use a scalpel instead of an ax to cut costs.
“We’re trying to just get through this year financially,” he said.
When other opportunities to save came up, Laes said, he took them, including combining a food services director and a facilities manager into one position, saving about $40,000.
The purchase of computers for the school board has been tabled, and basic education budgets were frozen, he said.
Another option is reducing utilities use, which cost the district about $500,000 in a school year.
One suggested solution was to evaluate the alternative-education programs ICE and OPEPO and decide how many students they benefit while balanced with their costs to the district.
“We’re going to one bus run next year, cutting our mileage in half,” he said.
“We’re kind of looking at every expenditure in the organization and how we might pare it down.”
In last month’s 2010 budget agreement, the state cut kindergarten-to-12th-grade education by $60 million. Lawmakers also are wrestling with a projected $5 billion shortfall in the upcoming two-year budget.
Each student brings in about $5,200 in state subsidies.
The district’s current budget is $1.1 million, 80 percent of which is payroll.
One long-term solution would be to recruit a grant writer, which would give the district a currently untapped revenue stream.
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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
