Walla Walla will have to make cuts in the coming year
WALLA WALLA -- Despite cuts from the state, the Walla Walla School District has tried to stretch its dollars as long as it can.
But now, it's come down to cutting positions once again. It was something the district already had to do last year.
"We did some things like make cuts with librarians at the elementary schools when we had positions we felt weren't critical. We tried to find ways where we could save money knowing that we needed to kinda build up on the reserve so that we could use it on a rainy day, a rainy day fund and very candidly right now it's pouring”, explained Mick Miller, Superintendent for the Walla Walla School District.
The district operates on about 62 million dollars a year.
Out of that money, 85 percent goes to pay for staff.
But by reducing that amount, classes will become larger with fewer teachers, leaving a potential impact on student learning.
Wes Sanders, a second grade teacher at Green Park Elementary, explained, "We are looking at losing parent support, where we have educators who help in the classroom with kids and that will make a pretty big difference."
Walla Walla Schools are looking at two to three million in cuts if the Governor's proposed budget goes through.
The district's main focus is on protecting the classroom by trying to save money in other areas first.
"In a district our size when we do a cut "X" number of people, those people have faces, we are small we know who those people are, those cuts become very personal and very difficult to do”, explained Miller.
And the difficult decisions may become a reality for Walla Walla as well as most other districts across the state.
The district has not decided when or what positions could be at risk.
But now, it's come down to cutting positions once again. It was something the district already had to do last year.
"We did some things like make cuts with librarians at the elementary schools when we had positions we felt weren't critical. We tried to find ways where we could save money knowing that we needed to kinda build up on the reserve so that we could use it on a rainy day, a rainy day fund and very candidly right now it's pouring”, explained Mick Miller, Superintendent for the Walla Walla School District.
The district operates on about 62 million dollars a year.
Out of that money, 85 percent goes to pay for staff.
But by reducing that amount, classes will become larger with fewer teachers, leaving a potential impact on student learning.
Wes Sanders, a second grade teacher at Green Park Elementary, explained, "We are looking at losing parent support, where we have educators who help in the classroom with kids and that will make a pretty big difference."
Walla Walla Schools are looking at two to three million in cuts if the Governor's proposed budget goes through.
The district's main focus is on protecting the classroom by trying to save money in other areas first.
"In a district our size when we do a cut "X" number of people, those people have faces, we are small we know who those people are, those cuts become very personal and very difficult to do”, explained Miller.
And the difficult decisions may become a reality for Walla Walla as well as most other districts across the state.
The district has not decided when or what positions could be at risk.
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