MARYSVILLE, Wash. — In an hour-long presentation Tuesday night, Marysville School District leaders laid bare the economic peril it’s facing, a $25 million budget shortfall, and a directive from state agencies to start making drastic cuts.
These are some of the proposed cuts: closing, consolidating and combining schools, getting rid of sports in the spring, closing the school’s pool, getting rid of librarians, not using paper in certain schools, not going on field trips and eliminating more jobs in the district.
Financial advisors from the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and the Northwest Education Services District 189 (NW ESD 189) put forth the recommendations.
The district is under what's called binding conditions. That means the district, operating at its current rate, will eventually go into the red. The state agencies step in to prevent that from happening.
In August, KING 5 reported on cuts the district made less than three weeks before school started. 45 teachers were laid off and the district didn’t fill an additional 35 vacancies left by teachers who retired or resigned. It has also eliminated six administrative positions and three assistant principals.
All of that, however, wasn’t enough to prevent more cuts.
Superintendent Dr. Zachary Robbins and Executive Director of Operations & Finance Dr. Lisa Gonzales went over the economic reality with dozens of community members.
While declining enrollment was one of the reasons mentioned for the budget shortfall, school leaders put most of the blame on two failed levies from 2022. They said if those levies had passed, things would still be tight, but they would have been able to make it through.
They also noted audits, prior to the current administration, passed with no red flags despite glaring problems. A levy passed last February, but that money won't be enough to cover what the two failed levies would have brought in according to district leaders.
The district recently borrowed money from its Capitol Fund, which must be paid back with interest next November. It is financially solvent until January. Between now and then, district leaders said hard decisions will have to be made to ensure the district can survive.
Many in the community had questions that weren’t addressed at the meeting. The district posted those questions with answers on its website. It also invited the community to be part of a committee to help make decisions on what has to be cut.