MLSD looks at $7 million in budget cuts

MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake School Board is looking at significant cuts to district athletic programs, how teachers and administrators are paid to cover for absent teachers, and possibly closing an elementary school to meet an expected budget shortfall this coming school year of $7 million.

“These are things we do with the levy funds,” said Moses Lake School District Business Manager Stephanie Lowry during a special meeting called Friday to discuss the upcoming budget.

Lowry outlined a series of cuts, including leaving 40 mostly classified positions unfilled, cutting back on the district’s cooperation with the Boys & Girls Clubs of The Columbia Basin, eliminating the district’s school resource officers, cutting school supply budgets 5% across the board, and either raising the fees or ending community use of the swimming pool and the theater at Moses Lake High School.

“It’s a preliminary list,” Lowry said.

The cuts are needed because of the failure of the local replacement levy in the Aug. 3 primary election, which 52% of district voters rejected. District voters will get a chance to vote on the levy again in November.

The board is considering a proposed budget for the 2021-22 school year of roughly $132.3 million, and must approve a budget before the start of the school year on Sept. 1. However, the proposed budget assumed the property levy of $1.50 per $1,000 in assessed value would pass.

Under the current levy, the district will still collect tax revenue through the end of December, which is matched nearly dollar-for-dollar by the state. Lowry said the shortfall for the 2022-23 school year will be $14 million if the levy again fails to pass in November.

Lowry said because the new school year starts soon, the cut in athletic funding would be limited because football and volleyball have already started for the fall.

“I don’t think we’ll see the full impact of that,” she said.

In addition, the district has already signed contracts with all certificated employees — mostly teachers and administrators — and did not send out possible “reduction in force” (RIF) notifications in May, and so cannot cut any teaching staff, according to both Lowry and board member Elliott Goodrich.

“This is a very serious financial situation and we are very limited in what we can do,” Goodrich said. “When your budget is 80% staff and you can’t touch two-thirds of positions, what the heck are you supposed to do?”

According to Goodrich, during a previous budget shortfall, the board voted to send out RIF notices to all teachers every year prior to the May 15 deadline to have flexibility in the event of unforeseen financial problems — something that did not happen this year.

“I’m disappointed that did not happen,” he said. “Now our hands are tied.”

Lowry said some of the COVID-19 relief money the MLSD received from the federal government could cover some of the shortfall. She also said a portion of the district’s budget reserve of $16 million could, as well, a move Goodrich did not support because he believes district voters clearly decided they didn’t want the district spending the money.

Goodrich said from what constituents have told him, a majority of voters do not trust what the MLSD is doing with taxpayer dollars. And he doesn’t believe that perception will be changed quickly or easily.

“I’m not as optimistic as some” about the November vote, Goodrich said.

While the board did not identify any specific cuts it would make, board members instructed Lowry to present a budget with at least $2.5 million in spending cuts at its next meeting on Thursday.