Schools pore over budgets as layoff date nears

Schools around Whitman County are finalizing staffing plans in preparation for the May 15 deadline to issue Reductions in Force layoff notices, also known as RIFs.

Whitman County schools took a $1,417,405 hit this school year, as a result of the legislature’s special session in December. Those cuts, along with uncertainties in the present session of the state legislature, may mean layoffs for some districts.

The $1,417,405 reduction resulted after legislators in December cut two school programs; K-4 enhancement and EduJobs grants.

Educational Service District 101 for eastern Washington did the math on the cuts proposed at that session and sent out the results of their calculations to all 59 districts in their jurisdiction, 13 of which are in Whitman County.

ESD 101 Superintendent Mike Dunn told the Gazette March 29 the release of the state House budget, which includes education, has been delayed several times now.

It is not yet known what the final state education budget for schools will be, Dunn said. Districts may have to make layoffs based on the state budget estimates they have and then make adjustments once the final figures emerge.

Colfax Superintendent Michael Morgan said there will be some layoffs in the district this year, but could not yet list how many. That figure hinges on when the state’s final budget emerges and what it looks like.

If RIF notices are issued by the district on the May 15 deadline and the state later emerges with a more positive budget, some of those people could be hired back, Morgan said.

The Colfax school board’s last meeting before the May 15 deadline will be May 9. Morgan said if the state emerges with its budget before May 9, the district could make a better projection on layoffs.

The St. John/Endicott school district had a layoff planned for one certified teacher up until a few weeks ago, when the retirement of another employee provided additional funding.

“We thought a month or so ago we would RIF for sure. We thought we would RIF a certified teacher here in Endicott,” said Superintendent Rick Winters.

The cuts to the state education budget, combined with another year of dropping enrollment have put the school finances dangerously close to cutting staff.

“We think we are going to make it through the spring without RIFing,” he said. “We’re concerned we might have to dip a little bit into our reserves. But we’re happy it looks like we’re going to try to keep all of our people.”

Winters said their enrollment, with a district of 260 students, continues to decrease every year.

Palouse Superintendent Bev Fox said they too have no RIFs planned for this school year, but declining enrollment at their school, a loss of 16 students so far this year, is expected to have an impact.

Lower enrollment means less money under the state’s funding formula which is why many districts in the county are not only reeling from the cuts in the state budget, but also from the loss of funding due to dropping enrollment.

“Our enrollment is down. We’re still above what we projected but our enrollment is down a little over 16 students,” said Fox. She added that to avoid laying off staff this year, their district will dip into its reserves. Enrollment at Palouse is approximately 190 students.

“Loss of funding is being done to us so we have to keep re-adjusting to see if there is any possible way to avoid RIFing,” Fox said.

She added she was thankful the district would not have to go so far as to cut staff this year, but pointed out the financial situation for state education continues to be dire.

“It’s getting scarier,” she said.

Levy equalization and the highly capable program were both slated to see steep financial losses under the budget proposal from Gov. Gregoire, but educators expect to see the governor’s start-of-session proposals changed by the time the legislature finishes its session.