The Vashon Island School District, facing a potential budget shortfall of more than $600,000, will likely have to reduce its staff size by around four positions, Superintendent Terry Lindquist told board members last week.
The five-member board approved his request to undertake a reduction in force — or RIF — equivalent to two-thirds of a full-time teacher; the positions Lindquist opted to cut after discussions with administrators at the district’s three schools are a half-time literacy and study skills teacher and one period of wood shop, both at the high school level.
He also said it looks like he won’t be able to fill a half-time high school counseling position when long-time counselor Shirley Ferris retires at the end of the school year. And he plans to eliminate a nearly full-time position in the district’s preschool because of low enrollment. That preschool teacher, he said, will be offered another position at Chautauqua Elementary School.
The situation is still fluid, he said, as he’s heard word of other potential leaves or retirements but has yet to get them in writing. He plans to present a final staffing plan to the board on May 22.
The reductions are due to the district’s ongoing struggles as it works to get itself back on solid financial ground, he said. Last year, when he stepped into the position, the district’s fund balance, a reserve that provides the district with enough of a cushion to get through the ebbs and flows of a school year and handle any unforeseen emergencies, was virtually gone, putting the district on the brink of bankruptcy, according to Bob Hennessey, chair of the school board.
“All of this is about balancing the budget, trying to reach the board’s fund balance target and the fact that we’re a district with declining enrollment,” Lindquist said in an interview before the board meeting.
Lindquist’s budget is not due to the board until the beginning of July, in time for a few board meetings before the new fiscal year begins Sept. 1. But the superintendent said he wants to keep the board apprised of the budget situation as he works to balance it.
“I’m trying to give them a heads-up right now in terms of where we’re going and the fact that we have to make some staff reductions to balance our budget,” he said.
Board members said they supported Lindquist’s efforts to balance the district’s $14.2 million budget and rebuild a fund balance. The board has asked him to try to get that reserve fund to four percent of the total budget — or around $500,000 — in a few years. School finance experts have said a reserve fund of 4 percent is considered adequate for a district Vashon’s size.
“It’s been pretty incredible, the patchwork he’s put together,” Hennessey said of Lindquist’s budget work to date.
“I think all of us hope that once we get to a sustainable budget, a lot of the angst people feel won’t be an annual occurrence.”
Laura Wishik, vice-chair of the board, also praised Lindquist’s work on the budget.
“My feeling is that Terry is doing a very hard job and doing it very well. He’s working well with the administrative staff to figure out the ways to fill the gaps,” she said. “But nothing is painless. … We’ll have to take some cuts and figure out if we have the best arrangement.”
Elizabeth Golen-Johnson, vice-president of the Vashon Education Association, declined to comment on the staff reductions when reached at her home on Monday. Tina Taylor, the union’s president, could not be reached.
Reducing the high school’s guidance counselor staff will be difficult for the school, leaving it with only one counseling position, said principal Susan Hanson. She said she hopes to find grant money to cover other school costs, freeing up funds to replace Ferris when she retires.
Should she not find a way to replace her, Hanson added, “It would be a real loss.”
