In a letter Wednesday to teachers, parents and students, Issaquah School District Superintendent Dr Steve Rasmussen announced the good news that “we expect to recall most certified employees” who were earmarked for layoffs as part of the district’s efforts to trim about $10 million from its budget.
Rasmussen said in the letter that the actual state budget, signed into law on Wednesday morning by Governor Christine Gregoire, had not been as bad as had been forecast, and would result in a loss of revenue of about $7.3 million.
In late April, Reduction in Force (RIF) notifications were sent to 158 teachers in the district.
Even though final budget numbers had not been settled on at that stage, a stipulation in the contract with the Issaquah Education Association said the district had to notify teachers by April 20 if layoffs were anticipated.
Layoffs were to be conducted by seniority, another stipulation in the association’s contract.
“After reconciling the $7.3 million in lost state revenue with other mitigating factors in our budget process, such as increased funding from student growth, we will be able to cover more than a third of our deficit with the $2.2-million in off-setting, non-classroom related reductions we identified in April,” Rasmussen wrote. “We will bridge the rest of the deficit through a one-student increase in class-size ratios. The single-student increase in class-size ratios results in about 40 to 45 fewer certificated positions district-wide. Because this approximates the number of teachers we generally lose each year due to attrition, retirement, and non-continuing contracts, we expect to recall most certificated employees who received a RIF notification.”
“While not ideal, I believe this financial plan will allow the Issaquah School District to continue to provide a balanced, comprehensive educational experience for students next year while still maintaining some of the lowest class sizes in the state.”
Rasmussen said that the reliance upon federal stimulus money to help fill the budget hole would mean that new financial challenges would arise in coming years.
“Although reductions could have been deeper, a real possibility for upcoming budget cycles, especially as federal stimulus money expires, our schools will look and feel different come September,” he said. “The $2.2 million in off-setting cuts represents a significant funding decrease in service levels that are not related to classroom teachers. You will likely notice the tradeoffs – your phone calls might not be answered as quickly because of trimmed secretarial hours, facilities might not be vacuumed as frequently because of reduced custodial hours, students on activity runs might be dropped off at consolidated, central stops…These reductions are not painless.”
“We receive less per-pupil funding than almost every other school district in the state, and we rank the lowest in King County and among large school districts in administrative spending. We are among the leanest and we are getting leaner. We have cut as aggressively as possible in non-teacher service areas while being cognizant of minimum standards in health, safety, support, laws, and regulations that we must meet.”
He said that one implication of shedding 40 to 45 certificated positions is the possibility of moving teachers between buildings as the district reconfigures staffing levels and recalls employees who had received RIF notices.
Levy package proposed
Rasmussen presented school board members with the proposed 2010 levy package at the May 14 school board meeting. If approved, the levy package could provide the district with more than $193 million dollars between 2010 and 2014.
The package is made up of three levies: a maintenance and operations levy, a capital levy, and a transportation one.
However, if the state Legislature approves a bill it’s currently reviewing that would allow school districts to raise their levy lids, it could bring in close to $214 million. Issaquah’s levy lid would go from about 25 percent, to about 28 percent.
