New Soap Lake superintendent happy to be back, focused on wise budgeting

SOAP LAKE — New Soap Lake School District Superintendent Angela Rolfe said she and her administration are focused on responsible budgeting and she's glad to be back in the district. 

“The Soap Lake School District has really always felt like home to me, so I was really excited to be able to come back,” Rolfe said. 

Rolfe replaces Aaron Chavez, who resigned at the end of the 2023-24 school year. Rolfe was the SLSD special education director and later worked as the vice-principal and principal at Soap Lake Middle/High School. She was the special education director for the Okanogan School District for two years prior to taking the Soap Lake superintendent job.  

Rolfe is the district’s third superintendent in three years. The district has seen enrollment declines, which led the Soap Lake School Board to declare a financial emergency and reduce the teaching staff. Rolfe said two teaching positions were eliminated and two departing teachers were not replaced.  

The district is also negotiating with the Soap Lake Education Association, the union representing teachers, for a new multiyear agreement. Rolfe said those negotiations are ongoing. 

In Washington, school funding is allocated based on the number of children in school, but school budgets are approved before the school year begins. Funding is allocated based on the budget estimate until January, when it’s adjusted to the actual number of students in school. A district that has overestimated will receive a cut in apportionment to adjust for the difference. Rolfe said Soap Lake district officials worked to avoid that type of adjustment. 

“We budgeted conservatively,” she said. “We budgeted about 20 fewer students than we ended with (in 2023-24), because budgeting conservatively is always wise. But we do hope that we will maintain enrollment.” 

District officials are taking a close look at all expenditures, she said. 

“There are several strategies we have to use, and the first is to make sure that we’re using all the resources that we have in the most efficient way possible,” she said. “We have been carefully watching our expenditures, ensuring that we don’t have any excess items that were purchased or contracts that we can function without. We also have reduced our staffing.”  

She said communication, both among the staff and with district patrons, is crucial.  

“We want to do two things. We need to make sure that we meet students where they are, but we also want to ensure we provide an excellent education for them. We don’t want to just stick with the status quo. We want to make sure they have the best we can offer,” Rolfe said. 

She called school operation in times of limited resources a “balancing act,” maintaining educational standards and working to address the needs of students, staff and Soap Lake district patrons. 

“We don’t want to lose the quality of our education. So, we have to figure out how to maintain or increase the quality of our education with our limited resources. And on the flip side, we have to make sure that we’re offering experiences for students and families so that they want to Soap Lake,” Rolfe said.  

Her first job in education was as a special education teacher, she said, because while her children liked school, some of their friends didn’t. 

“I really felt like there was an opportunity there for me to help the children be able to master the skills and enjoy them before it really got too lake and too hard for them,” she said.  

A mom of 10, she homeschooled her children before becoming a teacher, and that experience helped a lot, she said.  

“I spent a lot of time really learning about how people and about all the different strategies we can use to help students who struggle,” Rolfe said. “I think the other thing it really taught me was that kids can enjoy learning even when it’s hard, if we know how to do it right.” 

She said she was happy to return to Soap Lake.  

“I am so glad to be back,” she said.