Puyallup School District plans to cut $15 million, close high school pool
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Puyallup seeks $15M cuts; roughly 80–95 positions targeted for 2026–27.
- Plan trims ~20 certificated roles, 6.5 librarians, pool, devices, admins.
- Public commenters warned cuts would hurt literacy, special needs services and athletics.
The Puyallup School District is looking to cut dozens of positions for the 2026-2027 school year.
Interim superintendent Richard Lasso first proposed the cuts at the Feb. 17 school board meeting, saying the district needs to close a $15 million deficit before the start of the 2026-2027 school year.
Sarah Gillispie, spokesperson for the district, told The News Tribune that roughly 80 to 95 positions across the district would be eliminated or reduced – about 2% of the district’s 4,100 staff positions.
Gillispie said the district’s projected expenditures are outpacing its revenues. She said this is because of factors like increased salary costs, lack of state funding and inflation on things like utilities and insurance.
She said 85% of the district’s general fund expenditures go toward salaries and benefits, but emphasized the cuts go beyond eliminating positions.
“It’s not just staffing models but it’s [things like] programs and operational structures,” Gillispie said.
In a Feb. 18 post on its website, the district also said it is looking to close the Puyallup High School pool, get rid of take-home devices for fourth, fifth and sixth graders, slash half an hour of weekly library instructional time for fourth, fifth and sixth graders and get rid of high school gymnastics.
Gillispie said the next step is for the superintendent to bring a final set of recommendations to the school board during its March 13 study session.
During the board’s March 2 meeting, residents filled the Kessler Center, to the point where the district was turning people away because the meeting room was at capacity.
Gillispie said the room has a capacity of 95 people, including school staff at the event.
“The capacity for the upstairs board meeting space at the Kessler Center is determined by the local fire marshal and is based on the current room configuration (seating layout, aisles, exits, and fire code requirements). With our present setup, the maximum allowable occupancy is 95 individuals. Once 95 people are in the upstairs meeting space, we are required to stop additional entry,” Gillispie wrote in an email on March 5. “At that point, the room is considered ‘at capacity,’ and doors are secured in compliance with fire and life-safety regulations. District staff do not have discretion to exceed that limit.”
District staff are looking into ways to prevent overflow at future meetings, so everyone who wants to attend can do so, Gillispie said.
“At the most recent board meeting, attendance reached the 95-person maximum just prior to the meeting start time, which is why additional attendees were unable to enter the upstairs space,” Gillispie wrote. “We understand that this can be frustrating, particularly during meetings of high community interest. We are reviewing options to better accommodate attendance at future meetings, which may include overflow viewing areas or other adjustments, when feasible.”
Many of the people who made it into the room were wearing red T-shirts – the color of the Puyallup Education Association, which is the union that represents district employees.
While the school board did not make any decisions about the budget cuts during the meeting, more than a dozen people spoke out against the cuts during public comment.
What happened at the March 2 school board meeting?
Seventeen people condemned the cuts at the school board meeting. Out of the 17 who spoke, six expressed concerns about cutting library instructional time for fourth, fifth and sixth graders.
Laurie Vitt, a librarian at Firgrove Elementary School, said time with a library specialist is invaluable to students because it increases their literacy and teaches them important skills like how to spot misinformation online.
“Without a certified librarian to guide and recommend and connect and inspire, students will simply not find books that they don’t know exist,” Vitt said. “Books don’t sell themselves. Sending a child to the library alone is like sending a child to go to the grocery store to get dinner. They will come out holding Doritos.”
Vitt said the proposed cuts would leave students “without expert direction during the most formative years of their lives.”
“Our libraries support social and emotional literacy,” Vitt said. “They are safe havens for the introverted, the curious, the neurodivergent.”
Paul Freese, a grandfather of students in the district, said he didn’t read until he was in the third grade – and then a librarian “unlocked the mystery of reading” for him.
“That sent me out in a new direction, it launched me into more than you could imagine. I went to college. I never thought I would, first in my family to do so, graduated in three and a half years, went on to earn my masters,” Freese said. “I want to thank you for the hard work that you’ve put into the budget … but I would ask you to seriously look at the library and what it means to our students from K-12. I’m not unique, I can guarantee that there are hundreds of students growing up in your school district that experience education like I did – where one teacher and one librarian made all the difference.”
Five of the 17 speakers said they opposed the idea of closing the Puyallup High School pool.
Ryan Preis, a father of a Puyallup High School student, and principal at Covington Elementary School in the Kent School District, said KSD is facing a $35 million shortfall, so he understands the budget problems – but that he doesn’t believe shutting the pool down would save money.
He told the board he believes sending students to Rogers High School for swim practice would still cost money, because they would have to use activity buses to transport students.
“If you choose not to do that, you will be creating an artificial barrier for students to participate because they will not be able to go if there is no transportation,” Preis said. “... I would like you to consider the impact it would have on our special education students. Our special education students can participate in a no-cut sport, a swim for life, because that is a life sport. In addition to that, they will miss out on the opportunity to be with their general education peers. The therapy pool in PHS would also shut down, limiting their opportunity to participate in physical therapy.”
Preis encouraged the board to look into finding ways to increase revenue using the pool, such as starting a partnership with the City of Puyallup.
Allison Snyder, a student at Rogers High School who is on the swim and water polo teams, said shutting down the Puyallup High School pool would cause extra strain on the pool at Rogers High School, with several teams competing for practice time.
“How does it make sense to close a pool that gets so much use and then put all of that strain in one spot?” Snyder asked.
Leah Humphrey, a nurse and parent of a student in the district, expressed concern about cutting some health services positions. She said nurses are the first responders to everything from diabetic management, to mental health crises, to administering CPR.
“Loss of health services staff forces realignment into part-time positions with larger workloads and increased burnout, a reduction of care and lack of safety. You cannot cut positions and call it growth. You cannot increase workloads and call it efficiencies,” Humphrey said. “An overextended nurse cannot be split between multiple buildings when multiple children stop breathing.”
Some said they were concerned about teachers being on the chopping block, saying it would increase class sizes and cut their students off from the most valuable relationships they have.
Bob Horton, president of the Puyallup Education Association, said the proposed cuts go against the district’s mission.
“Keep cuts away from the classroom. The district’s strategic plan, strategic mission, is to empower every student to reach their full potential, to thrive in work and life. Do these potential cuts meet these criteria? Reducing 20 certified classroom educators? No, it increases class sizes. Reducing 6.5 librarians? No. It eliminates opportunities for students to be exposed to digital citizen skills,” Horton said. “I ask this board to reject all cuts to all classroom educators, to reject all cuts to student programs, and to place our student learning and student experiences first.”
What is being cut?
Gillispie said the district first started the process in November, when they created eight committees to look at staffing models, programs and operations and find areas that could be cut. These eight committees looked at:
- The central office staffing model such as administrators, analysts, managers, technicians, or administrative assistants.
- The custodial staffing model
- Facilities such as pools and the Karshner Museum.
- Curriculum adoptions
- Athletic offerings
- The school-based administrative staffing model, which includes positions like assistant principals and deans
- The dual-language staffing model
- The elementary librarian staffing model
During the Feb. 17 meeting, Lasso presented the first proposal, which includes the following major cuts:
- 29 central office positions. Gillispie said that seven of them are administrative positions. Lasso defined these positions as “district-level administrators with ‘Director’ or a ‘Superintendent’ in their title.”
- Eliminating the dean position district-wide, which would eliminate 10.5 positions.
- 2.5 assistant principal positions.
- 20 certificated school-based staffing positions.
- 6.5 librarians. Students in kindergarten through third grade would continue to receive half an hour of librarian-led instructional time each week, but the cuts would get rid of this time for students in fourth grade through sixth grade.
- Reducing 7 non-certificated positions in health services and adding 2.5 certificated positions. The post on the district’s website describes this as “reducing some [non-certificated] positions while increasing RN capacity.”
- Getting rid of take-home devices for grades 4 to 6.
- Permanently closing the Puyallup High School pool.
- Getting rid of high school gymnastics.
The News Tribune asked Gillispie how many of the 20 proposed certificated school-based staffing cuts would be teachers.
“The current proposal estimates a reduction of approximately 20 certificated staff positions,” Gillispie said. “Now, since classroom teachers make up the majority of the almost 1,500 certificated staff, it is probable that at least some classroom teacher positions will be reduced.”
Certificated positions are roles that require a state-issued education certificate, such as teachers, librarians and counselors.
According to a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section on the district’s website, health staff changes will mostly impact junior high schools. Each junior high will now have one full-time registered nurse (RN) five days a week. Edgemont Junior High will have one RN and one licensed practical nurse (LPN) or (HA) four days a week, “consistent with its enrollment and health room utilization needs.”
Elementary schools will have one RN and an LPN or HA on alternating days. All high schools except for Walker High School will have one RN and one HA five days a week. Walker High School “will continue with 1 RN one day per week and 1 LPN or HA four days per week, consistent with its enrollment and health room utilization needs.”
All remaining RNs and HAs will be full-time, the district’s website says.
Positions that aren’t cut entirely may still see some impacts, such as:
- A 5-10 calendar day reduction for administrative staff. Gillispie said that, for example, this could lead to 250 days in their contract instead of a 260 day contract, and these reductions would take place during days when school is not in session.
- A pause on vacation buybacks for administrative staff, which is a current program that allows eligible staff to be compensated for unused vacation days.
- Getting rid of routine overtime and split shifts for custodial staff. This proposal would also put custodians on an A/B cleaning schedule for secondary schools, which Gillispie described as “rotating deeper cleaning tasks between buildings and zones on alternating days.” Gillispie said this would allow custodial staff to “maintain health and safety standards while operating with fewer staffing hours.”
- Reducing hours for remaining librarians and paraeducators.
Gillispie said they will be making cuts through natural attrition when possible, which includes retirements, resignations and expiring contracts.
According to the post on the district’s website, the savings break down like this:
- Central Office: $6.8 million
- Aquatic Facilities: $300,000
- School-based administration: $2.3 million
- Custodial Services: $1.7 million
- Libraries & Technology: $1 million
- School-based staffing: $3.3 million
- Athletics: $60,000
Gillispie said closing the Puyallup High School pool would not impact the school’s aquatics program, because they would use the district’s other pool at Rogers High School.
In an email on March 5, Gillispie said the district does not plan to provide transportation for students to travel between schools for swimming activities.
The News Tribune asked Gillispie how closing the pool would impact special needs classes or other student populations who might rely on the pool. She said she would look into it and answer that for The News Tribune at a later time. Gillispie also mentioned there are many community activities and events that rely on the pool that would be impacted.
The News Tribune asked Gillispie if the school has any plans for the unused space if they do end up closing the pool.
“No final decisions have been made regarding the future use of that space,” Gillispie said. “Any repurposing would follow facilities planning and board approval process.”
When The News Tribune asked Gillispie which schools will be most impacted by the cuts, she said the district does not have an answer yet.
“The district’s intent is to distribute reductions as equitably as possible while maintaining required services,” Gillispie said.
Why are these cuts happening?
Gillispie said there are several reasons for the district’s $15 million deficit:
- Increased cost of salaries and benefits.
- The increased cost of health insurance.
- Inflationary increases on utilities, supplies and services. These include things like gas for buses and power to keep the lights on.
In its website post, the district also mentioned expiring federal relief funds, such as the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund.
“In some cases, programs supported by one-time dollars were sustained using ongoing funds after those federal resources expired, creating long-term budget pressure,” the post said.
Gillispie also said the problem stems from a lack of state funding.
“State funding has simply not kept pace with the true cost of operating schools,” Gillispie said.
During the 2023-2024 school year, the district received about 75% of its funding from the state, about 17% from local funds, about 6.8% from federal funds and the rest from other entities.
These cuts come after voters approved a renewal of the Educational Programs & Operations Levy during the Feb. 10 special election.
The levy will last for the next four years and imposes a $2.50 tax per $1,000 of assessed property value – meaning a $500,000 home would pay about $1,250 per year.
“The reductions would be much more critical had the levy not passed,” Gillispie said. “So, while the levy provides critical funding, which is approximately 16% of the general fund, it did not eliminate the need for reductions – and it’s getting back to that structural budget gap where overall expenses are increasing faster than revenue.”
Gillispie said the levy plays an important role in stabilizing the district’s budget.
“The levy does provide important stability and includes the potential for modest growth in revenue starting in 2027, so the levy will help us cover some rising costs,” Gillispie said. “But not enough to fully close the gap between what we spend and what we receive each year.”
What are the next steps and how can I give my two cents?
Gillispie said Lasso will present a final set of recommendations to the school board during its study session on Friday, March 13, which will take place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Kessler Center.
“Then, it would be finalizing those recommendations and making those announcements prior to the end of the year,” Gillispie said.
After the Feb. 17 meeting, the district added a survey to its website, seeking community feedback about the cuts. The survey will be open until March 8, and residents wishing to participate can find it on the Feb. 18 post at www.puyallupsd.org/about-us/latest-news.
“These decisions are difficult and not made lightly,” Gillispie said. “The district’s focus is on long-term fiscal stability, protecting core and structural services, meeting contractual obligations and maintaining transparency throughout the process. The budget challenges facing this district reflect broader state-wide pressures affecting many Washington state school districts.”
Editor’s note: A previous version of this article said the levy makes up 60% of the district’s general fund. It actually makes up 16% of the general fund.
A previous version of this article also said the $300,000 in savings from aquatic facilities is not included in the $15 million savings, but it is.
This article was updated on March 5 to include more information about health services staffing, capacity levels at the Kessler Center and a statement from Gillispie saying the district does not plan to include transportation between schools if the pool closes.
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 5:15 AM.
