Moses Lake loses $2 million, 14 teachers and staff

MOSES LAKE — A $2 million revenue loss caused Moses Lake School District employees to cut 14 teachers, but all are expected to be hired back once the district proves it has the funds to maintain the positions.

“The Revised Code of Washington requires us to notify staff about cuts by May 15,” said Michelle Price, superintendent. “The fact that we believe we will have a position to place folks in makes this so difficult. Despite the $2 million loss, we are still growing and we anticipate we will have everyone placed back in.”

Administrators delivered the bad news to the teachers and explained the budget timeline.

“We’ve met with them and they are aware of (the decision),” said Monte Redal, deputy superintendent. “We are working closely with our teacher’s union leadership to make sure we are following all the right rules.”

The board must cut and transfer newer teachers first, because of the union contract rules protecting seniority.

“We are forced to shuffle people around in the process,” Redal said. “Some teachers will be re-assigned to different schools.”

This process is called displacement and means teachers still have jobs in Moses Lake, but they won’t stay in their current positions. If jobs at the teachers’ old schools are reinstated, they may apply to return to their former jobs.

“When it comes down to it, we may not have anyone losing their jobs,” Redal said. “My guess is that we will be opening positions and hiring people by the time we’re done with this procedure. Bottom line is that even though these positions are cut, I’m fairly certain everyone will be rehired immediately.”

Some classified staff members and administrators may also lose their jobs. District staff won’t know the exact number until information on federal funding is released.

“It is too early to tell what our budget for next year will be,” Redal said. “We are still waiting on federal funding to know what the full picture is. State cuts are not as deep as we originally anticipated, which is good news.”

Areas of funding reduction from the state to the district included the elimination of I-728 funding, the elimination of Learning Improvement Day and a kindergarten through fourth grade staffing ratio.

Levy equalization assistance for next year is reduced by $800,000. The loss is due to changes in the assessed property values in the district.

“Expansions of industry raise property values in our district, not just homeowners,” Redal pointed out. “Levy equalization is for property poor districts, which we’ve always been. While it is good we are getting new businesses and growing, it is also negative because it means our property values are continuing to increase.”

The loss of I-728 reduced staff by 13 teachers. It was used by the school district to pay for lowering class sizes, adding facilities and staff development.

Peninsula Elementary School and Longview Elementary School were impacted the most. Peninsula lost three teachers and Longview said goodbye to two.

“We believe Peninsula suffered the most because they are down in enrollment this year,” Redal said.

Moses Lake High School and Chief Moses Middle School increased in enrollment by almost 100 students.

“We might be gaining more teachers at the high school next year because the increased enrollment might be able to absorb the cuts,” Redal said. “This may also help us get matching funding from the state to build on to the high school facility or build a new high school. The more crowded we get, the more funds we are given.”

The district’s budget leadership team started preparing for budget cuts in early February. The team consists of 13 people from various education fields, such as principals, district staff and union presidents.

“A reduction in force is always extremely difficult,” Redal said. “We’ve been sending out monthly e-mails to our staff to let them know the current status of the budget and what we are planning to do.”

The team sent out a budget reduction survey to staff and community members to get their perspectives before making final decisions.

“We’ve had a lot of communication with our staff,” Redal said. “This all seems like a long process already and our decisions did not come as a surprise to school district staff.”

Construction on the new elementary school on Paxson Drive continues because the funding is used from a capital projects bond passed in 2007. The district is planning on making $1 million cuts in other areas to compensate for state cuts.

“Staffing (cuts) are only half the story,” Redal said.

The district is expecting to delay or reduce the computer lab replacement cycle at schools, reduce their academic coaching group to a part-time position, delay curriculum adoption, scale back on the school bus purchasing plan and delay some levy-funded positions such as additional counselors, maintenance workers and technicians.

“We are at the beginning planning stages right now,” Redal said.

The district plans to put out a preliminary budget for the 2010-2011 school year in July.