Tacoma school officials who are developing next year’s budget say financial woes might cause the district to shed up to 100 jobs.

Officials won’t know how many positions will be eliminated for another month, Tacoma Chief Financial Officer Ron Hack said in an interview. And even then, many of the cuts won’t necessarily equate to people losing their jobs involuntarily.

Though they’re not ruling out layoffs of support staff, officials hope reductions can be accommodated through retirement, leaves and other types of attrition.

The possibility of job losses surfaced at the district’s budget forums this week at Wilson High School and Lincoln High School.

The state’s second-largest district is working to close a nearly $21.5 million gap between revenues and expenses in the upcoming academic year.

Cash-strapped school districts recently sent reduction-in-force notices to anywhere from a handful to several dozen teachers, under a state law requiring them to do so if it’s possible teachers won’t have a contract next year. The law, however, doesn’t require districts to meet the May 15 notification deadline for bus drivers, paraeducators, maintenance workers and other classified staff.

Tacoma doesn’t plan to lay off teachers, so it didn’t send notices to any instructors. Hack noted that the number of staff members reporting they will retire at the end of this school year is larger than in 2008.

“The reason we haven’t said exactly how many positions we’ll reduce is because we haven’t finished the process,” Hack said. “We want to take the time to see exactly what we’re going to do.”

Like other Washington districts, Tacoma is preparing a budget in the face of historic state revenue declines. Most South Sound districts are seeing smaller or flat budgets next year, and Tacoma is no exception. It is developing an operating budget of $321.9 million, compared to $322.29 million this year.

The district projects it will enroll 28,788 students next fall, a decline of 205 students from the current year. That means less state revenue distributed on a per-pupil basis.

To close the shortfall, Tacoma will use a combination of federal stimulus funds, program reductions, carryover dollars and savings wrung out of this year’s budget.

The district anticipates receiving nearly $11.9 million in federal stimulus dollars. Some must be spent on specific programs, including $2.96 million for special education and $2 million for the Title I program that helps low-income children.

Statewide, Washington is receiving a total of $672 million in federal stimulus dollars to offset education cuts, The Associated Press reported. Gov. Chris Gregoire announced Wednesday that the money is now available, and that the state could apply for $331 million more in the fall.

In Tacoma, administrators also have saved money through penny pinching, such as postponing equipment purchases.

For the past year, they have left open “nonessential” vacancies, ranging from secretarial jobs to a budget analyst to maintenance and technology positions, Hack said in a Tuesday interview. This year the district also saved money by not filling the deputy superintendent job. Newly hired deputy Carla Santorno will make $174,251 in 2009-10.

Meanwhile, officials are examining which central administration jobs to cut.

By the close of the fiscal year in August, the district expects to have $13 million to $14 million above what its policy directs to keep in reserves. The district plans to spend those extra reserves to help balance the budget over the next three years.

Debby Abe: 253-597-8694

debby.abe@thenewstribune.com

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