Soap Lake School District staff upset

Several staff resign, receive layoff notices from district

SOAP LAKE — May 9, 2005 is a date one classified staff member in the Soap Lake School District will not soon forget.

That was the day he received a letter from the Soap Lake School District which stated he would be laid off at the end of the school year.

'"Due to declining student enrollment and district needs it has been determined that your position will not be renewed for the 2005-2006 school year,"' the source, who has asked to remain anonymous, read from the letter which had been approved by Superintendent John Adkins.

'"That's the way your layoff is,"' the source was told by the school district upon asking for an explanation, adding that if the layoffs go through, it will leave the district with only one classified staff member at each of the four schools in the district to maintain the grounds.

"The money's going somewhere or I don't know … it has something to do (with) other than student enrollment," the custodian said.

Denise Mehal, business manager for the SLSD, said to her knowledge only four or five classified and four certified staff have received layoff notices.

"That's how you remain fiscally responsible," Mehal said of the layoffs as enrollment declines, responding to allegations that the district is not managing its money well.

One teacher at the elementary school, who also asked to remain anonymous, received a notice of a layoff May 13 and says while the notice indicated there could be an opportunity for rehire at a later date, not all district employees received the same offer.

None of those reported to have been denied an opportunity for rehire could be reached before deadline.

Mehal said all of those who received layoff notices will have the opportunity for rehire.

Another source representing the Soap Lake Education Association and the certified employees, who also asked to remain anonymous, confirmed district reports that only three or four teachers have been given layoff notices, but could not speak for how many classified staff had received those letters.

"But in a district our size that is quite a few," the SLEA representative said.

The SLEA representative added that it is probable the layoffs are in part due to lower student enrollment, but is concerned that the layoffs could be due to budget issues.

"We're told that we are running in a deficit, that's why I was surprised," the SLEA representative said, recalling what had been reportedly discussed at a previous budget meeting.

A Soap Lake High School teacher, who asked to remain anonymous, responded to business manager Denise Mehal's reports that expenditures have been more than revenues due to school improvement plans.

There have been much needed school improvements made, but "very little of that came out of the school budget," the high school teacher said, adding that the improvements were not big enough changes to have cost the district large sums of money.

"It's just student enrollment," Mehal said in response, clarifying that the school improvement plans required the district to hire four paraeducators and use reserve funds to help pay for that.

Mehal said the district has had more costs than revenue coming in, but that that does not mean the district has spent more money than it has, as it has been drawing from monies set aside in the reserve fund.

Heather Couch, a teacher at Soap Lake Elementary School, said the school board received her letter of resignation at Monday's board meeting which she gave as a result of the conflict surrounding Adkins.

"A majority of students lost have been at the elementary school," Couch said. "At the bottom of this there's kids."

Despite claims that several students have left the school district because of the situation with Adkins, district administration could not confirm that.

"That's pretty widespread in our area," Mehal said of the decreased enrollment which she stated is a normal occurrence as students may move or change schools for a variety of reasons.

As for other changes in district administration, Shane Couch, principal at the middle and high schools, also gave his letter of resignation at Monday's school board meeting.

In an interview following the meeting, Couch said his resignation comes at a time when he is looking at furthering his career, and not because of the disagreements over Adkins, contrary to his wife Heather's reasons for leaving.

"Right now my energy and focus will be on Glenwood, my new school district," Couch said.

Librarian Dorothy Harris gave a request for a leave of absence at Monday's board meeting.

Harris said her decision to do so is in direct correlation of "working in a hostile work environment" due to the affects the ongoing allegations against Adkins have had on herself, coworkers and students.

Harris was one of several who came to Monday's meeting where high school student Collin Barnes submitted a petition with approximately 60 student signatures in support of Adkins' resignation.

Barnes said as a student, approaching Adkins and other district administration has been difficult.

In a brief phone conversation with the Herald Tuesday evening, Adkins would not comment on any of the events surrounding his performance as superintendent.

"There's a whole other side to this story," Adkins said, refusing to comment any further.