Anticipated state budget cuts have prompted the Sumner School District to make changes that will save money but likely cost teaching positions next year.
“We have to go with a staffing model that is in line with funding,” Sumner Superintendent Gil Mendoza said.
He estimates that his school district will need to reduce spending by $3.5 million to $4 million next year as a result of coming state cuts. The district’s operating budget this year is around $75 million.
One way the district plans to save money is by changing the structure of the day at its two high schools.
Switching from the current schedule will allow the district’s high schools to get by with eight to 10 fewer teachers between the two schools, officials say. That could save up to $1 million in salaries, benefits and other personnel costs, Mendoza said.
The district and the School Board are still studying other potential cost -saving ideas, he said.
“We realize that for years we have trimmed around the edges,” he added. “We made cuts to transportation as deeply as we could last year. I don’t see any relief there.”
Teachers are concerned about the coming changes.
“Because teachers are so passionate about their programs and what they do, if things are being cut, it’s going to be natural that they respond. They’re upset,” said Sumner Education Association president Hillery Berteaux.
Currently at the 1,300-student Bonney Lake High School, students follow a model known as block scheduling. It provides for four 90-minute class periods a day. Sumner High School’s 1,100 students follow a blend of block scheduling and the more traditional six-period, 60-minute day – with some six-period days and some four-period days, said Berteaux.
Teachers get one period for planning a day. That means that during any given period in a block scheduling school, one-fourth of the teachers are out of the classroom working on lesson plans, meeting with other teachers to plan team-based activities and performing other tasks.
By contrast, giving teachers one daily planning period under the six-period schedule takes only one-sixth of the faculty out of the classroom at a time. The switch away from four-period block scheduling would allow the high schools to cover more classroom time with fewer teachers, district officials argue.
It would also take longer for students to earn full credit in core classes such as math or English.
“They gain about 30 hours of instruction, and it gives them more contact time with the teacher,” Mendoza said.
The changes have been announced to both teachers and students, who are starting to register now for classes next year.
“The staffing model we operate under is currently an enriched staffing model,” Mendoza said, noting that the district has chosen to staff its classrooms with more teachers than are paid for with state funds.
“It’s provided us options for kids, such as block scheduling and block team planning,” Mendoza said. But he said it’s no longer financially feasible for the district to sustain staffing at an enriched level. The result is that teachers are “feeling an emotional tug” about the changes, he added.
Mendoza said he and other district officials are watching carefully what happens in Olympia. The legislative session is scheduled to end March 11. He said if any relief in terms of funding comes from the Legislature, he would look at the possibly of restoring planned cuts.
Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635
debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com
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