As the school year comes to an end and planning for the 2009-2010 year begins, one thing is clear: every Jefferson County school district is facing declining enrollment.
Because of the reduction in students, some of the districts may be forced to reduce teachers.
At a special school board meeting Monday night, Port Townsend Superintendent Tom Opstad explained that districts receive funding based on how many students they have enrolled.
The more students enrolled in a district, the more money the district has to hire certificated staff such as teachers, special education instructors and librarians.
“The funding formulas drive staffing based on student enrollment,” Opstad said.
Currently, the district has 1,419 students enrolled. But next year, the district projects 1,346 students.
After considering the numbers, the School Board passed a resolution reducing full-time instructional staff by 6.94 full-time employee positions for the 2009-2010 school year.
Quilcene
In Quilcene, the situation is much the same, however the size of the school may insulate it from a large impact.
“We’re a small district, so anything has some impact,” Principal Jim Betteley said.
“But with a small school with declining enrollment, we are at bare bones already, so it isn’t always so bad.”
Betteley, who has worked with Superintendent David Andersen in determining the enrollment numbers, said the district expected to lose 10 or 11 students before the 2009-2010 school year.
“We are at 250 right now,” he said.
Betteley said he believes that may affect one or two positions, but nothing has been determined yet.
“The board is still going to make the final decisions,” Betteley said. “They are scheduled to have a work session on Thursday and we will go from there.”
Chimacum
In Chimacum, Superintendent Mike Blair said his district is also losing students, but he doesn’t intend to lay off any teachers.
“We have enough people retiring that we won’t have to put anyone out this year,” Blair said.
“So no, we probably are not going to lay anyone off, but we are going to reduce staff through attrition.”
Blair said his district has 1,060 students currently and is forecasting 1,040 for next year.
State funding for enrollment varies according to a number of factors.
On average, one student is worth a little more than $5,000, Blair said.
“That’s a little more than $100,000 we lose with just 20 kids,” Blair said. “For a district, that is a lot.”
Despite projections, district personnel remain hopeful.
Port Townsend School Board members said they still might have additional students register and may add teachers like they did last year.
“This is just the worst-case scenario,” said School Board Anne Burkhart. “We can still add more teachers” [if enrollment goes up].
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Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
