The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG - With more and more students pulling out of the Waitsburg School District, the school board will be making tough budget choices that may include staff cuts for the next school year.

Superintendent Dr. Carol Clarke said this school year the district had 305 students enrolled in K-12 education, online learning and Running Start. With a small kindergarten class currently registered at only 12 kids, high gas prices and families moving out of town, the district is projecting enrollment will decrease to 280 students, Clarke said.

The school district receives money from the state based on how many students attend. One full-time student provides about $6,000 from the state to the district, Clarke said. Losing 25 students means a loss in revenue from the state by about $150,000.

Faced with this loss, the school board called a special meeting Tuesday, April 17, to evaluate the current budget and figure out how to make up for the $150,000 loss. Clarke said it was not likely any action would be taken Tuesday night.

Because of the poor economy, decreasing enrollment and education cuts at the state level, the district for 2011- 2012 is already $204,000 over budget, Clarke said at the board meeting on April 11. This is consistent with what the district had budgeted for the year and the district is dipping into reserves, she said.

"It's just the reality of what we had expected," Clarke said.

Clarke said she is very concerned that more families who attend Waitsburg schools but live out of the district are going to pull their students out. Fifty-three of the current 299 students do not live within district boundaries, she said. Twenty-six live in Dayton, two are elementary-aged from Dixie, 19 are from Prescott and six are from Walla Walla.

Clarke said last Friday she and Secondary Principal Stephanie Wooderchak contacted some families they knew may be moving their children to another district and with some confirmations, that is how they are estimating enrollment will be at 280 next year.

For the district, Ross Hamann, chairman of the school board, said the high mark for enrollment was close to 400 and the low mark is 270. With the projected enrollment so close to the lower end of the spectrum, staff layoff notices may go out to tighten the budget gap.

Clarke said 80 percent of district costs are staff salaries and any time reductions must be made, staff costs are always evaluated. At this point, who may be cut from the payroll is "hard to say," Clarke said.

Board Member Christy House said last Wednesday when the layoff discussion came up previously in the district, she believed the staff were most vocal about cuts needing to come from the elementary school. Clarke said Wednesday career and technical education staffing is above what is needed right now.

" The writing is on the wall," said Board Member Greg Zuger. "If we need to make adjustments, it needs to be done now."

Clarke said she doesn't anticipate action being taken Tuesday night regarding what will be cut. But, the deadline for layoff notices to go out to certificated staff is May 15. Clarke was just hoping community members, staff and parents would come to the meeting on Tuesday to provide input.