Edmonds School Board Discusses Budget Deficits, Possible Layoffs

EDMONDS, WA — The Edmonds School Board on Wednesday conducted the first reading of a proposed "Reduced Educational Plan" for the district's 2019-2020 school year, which could result in a variety of staff, material, and/or program reductions throughout the Edmonds School District to compensate for a $17.7 million budget deficit.

It's unclear how the first reading went at the Wednesday morning meeting (Patch's calls to the district were not immediately returned), but the final decision regarding the Reduced Educational Plan for 2019-2020 will reportedly occur during the next School Board Meeting May 14.

"We are entering an unprecedented time in public education in the State of Washington," ESD Superintendent Kristine McDuffy wrote in a message to district families. "We have a whole new funding system as well as a new school and district accountability system. We are working hard to respond to these significant changes and look forward to discussing the impacts and next steps with you over the coming months."

A plethora of factors reportedly contributed to the district's $17.7 million shortfall for this coming fiscal year. Those factors were listed on the district's website as follows:

• A reduction in the levy over the calendar year 2018;
• A reduction in K-3 funding unless the district reduces K-3 class sizes which require additional staffing costs;
• Increases to employer costs for the School Employees Benefits Board;
• Salary increases for all employee groups;
• The basic education funding model does not cover the additional staff and other program costs that are funded by the levy or other state and federal programs;
• The Salary Allocation Model no longer takes into consideration the education and experience levels of staff and provides funding at one average rate. The district’s staff is more experienced than the average;
• We used nearly $3.9 million of the 2017-18 fund balance (savings account) to prevent other reductions during that school year. This results in a fund balance below 4 percent. We cannot continue to draw down our fund balance and remain fiscally sound as a district; and
• Even with the new revenue in programs like Special Education, we continue to fund our Special Education budget over the amount allocated by the state and federal government. We anticipate this gap to be in excess of $5 million.

To make up for the deficit, the district listed the following actions as possible options:

• Staff reductions including certificated teaching, classified staff, and certificated administrators, and leaving vacant positions unfilled;
• Specific program reductions; and
• Reductions in non-staff costs such as materials, supplies and operating costs

District officials said they're also counting on annual retirements and resignations as opportunities to make up small portions of the deficit, but further noted that even with those voluntary decreases in the budget it's still unclear how many people within the district could be affected by various reductions to the district's educational plan.

"We recognize that processing reductions of this magnitude are a challenging process," district officials wrote in a statement. "We work in a profession that values relationships with one another and this makes the decisions that are ahead all the more difficult."

(Sign up for our free daily newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Edmonds Patch)