LYNNWOOD, Wash. — The Edmonds School District hosted a special board meeting Tuesday night to present its budget report to staff and the community. They're facing a $15 million budget shortfall for the 2023-2024 school year.
Among the budget discussions is a list of proposed staff cuts that includes certificated positions, 46.5 full-time teachers and a few dozen other positions: student intervention coordinators, custodians, security officers, etc.
Tuesday morning, Mountlake Terrace High School Band Members rallied outside their school for the second day in a row. The proposed cuts would impact the music program. Band Booster Club President Jill Espitia is disheartened. Espitia said the principal had a meeting with the high school music director who then broke the news to students.
“This is the only place for some students,” Espitia said. “They feel safe.”
Booster club members said the loss of some art, band, orchestra and chorus programs across the district will be detrimental to the social-emotional well-being of hundreds of students. They're hoping the district looks elsewhere to make up for the $15 million shortfall.
Some Special Education programs also face cuts
Special Education services will also face some cuts which leaves Sylvia Ferreira feeling worried. Her son is in a developmental program at Alderwood Early Childhood Center.
"My first concern was making sure he got the support he needed and he could be in an environment where he could thrive," Ferreira said. "He just thrives there and his teacher is just so wonderful. She has so much expertise."
Ferreira, however, fears that'll no longer be the case if ESD goes through with their current plan to address the budget shortfall.
"Under the budget cuts, she would be replaced by a technician who doesn't have a teaching certificate or training in special education and that is not an environment in which my child can thrive," she said.
The proposed budget cuts can be viewed below:
According to the district’s website, the district has lost more than 1,100 students in recent years which is causing a reduction in funding (per student) by about $11.9 million.
A budget overview presentation on the website cited declining enrollment, lower birth rates, expiring federal COVID-19 relief funding, and a lack of funding from the state as reasons for proposed cuts for the upcoming school year.
Among projected savings efforts, the district announced Friday it will close Woodway Center, a preschool program, at the end of the school year in late June.
The district said Woodway Center was a temporary solution to overcrowding at both Sherwood and Westgate. With enrollment projected to be down for next school year, the district has decided to close Woodway Center.
Woodway Center students entering kindergarten for the 2023-24 school year will return to their neighborhood school of either Sherwood Elementary or Westgate Elementary, according to an email the district sent to parents.
Preschool programming currently at Woodway Center will move to Alderwood Early Childhood Center (AECC) located in Lynnwood beginning with the 2023-24 school year.
To make space for the kindergarten classes returning to Sherwood and Westgate elementary schools. There will be location changes for some of the district’s Special Education programs. Those decisions are still being determined, according to the district. That information will be shared with families and staff as soon as the plan is finalized.
KING 5 reached out to Edmonds School District throughout the day on Tuesday, but could not get anyone to go on record. However, a spokesperson says district leaders plan to vote on the proposed plan on April 25.