YAKIMA, Wash.-Dozens of teachers, school staff and other members of the Yakima Education Association flocked to the Yakima School District Board Meeting to learn the status of their jobs.
124 of them learned they will lose those jobs.
A trend of lower student enrollment since the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with inflation, has forced the district to cut those jobs to save over $14 million.
YSD’s Assistant Superintendent of Finance Jake Kuper says without the reduction in force, the district’s general fund balance would hit zero by the end of the 2023-24 school year.
Student enrollment is projected to be almost 2,000 less than YSD saw in 2017-18. The loss in enrollment is almost equal to the combined total of the Zillah and Union Gap School Districts.
“We did believe not only here in Yakima, but in the state of Washington and across the country, that students would come back,” says YSD Superintendent Trevor Greene. “We have to think about education differently. Why are they not coming back?’
The sudden change in enrollment caught the YEA off guard. YSD says the district kept the association in the loop since last summer.
YEA says that was not the case.
“I want to know who’s going to be held accountable for all the spending, all the stuff that happens, and that we did not see this coming,” says YEA President John Cavanaugh. “I know you did not see this coming in the district.”
Greene says YSD has been preparing for the cuts and potentially others. If the special election levy had not passed earlier this year, the cuts could have been more.
“If the levy had not passed, then we would have not only had to have a $20 million reduction plan set for the second attempt at passing the levy, but we would have had to then come up with a $58.5 million reduction plan if it failed a second time,” says Greene.
Jobs being cut include 10 assistant principals, health assistants, migrant student advocates and academic specialists.
“These teachers have been hired starting careers and establish themselves in their buildings,” says Duff DeWitt with YEA. “They are making the relationships with students and families and becoming a part of our community. And the school district has betrayed their trust.”
YSD says the cuts are not immediate. Administration will have to go through personnel contracts and make cuts based on seniority.
