Coupeville Sports

Coupeville paraeducators, including some seen here, will be affected by budget cuts. (Photo courtesy Shelly LaRue)

Some see numbers on a spreadsheet, others see faces.

Except some of those faces won’t be around this fall, as passage of the 2023-2024 Coupeville school budget carries with it the loss of multiple employees.

When the School Board voted 4-1 Thursday to accept a budget presented by Superintendent Steve King and Finance Director Brian Gianello, it also confirmed more than a million dollars in cuts.

Dean of Students Tom Black is not coming back, despite a vocal grassroots movement in which person after person testified to his impact on their lives.

Jessica Caselden remains a teacher, but her other position, as Athletic Trainer, will no longer be funded, despite a letter campaign led by Coupeville High School softball players.

Two paraeducators formerly paid with Covid-era ESSER funds have not been retained, while another was eliminated by attrition.

The district originally posted a job opening to replace a fourth paraeducator who left the district, but are no longer planning to fill that position, King confirmed at a previous budget workshop.

All remaining paraeducators are losing a half hour from their day.

This comes as district officials have said the plan is to keep Coupeville’s special needs students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) in-house, instead of giving state money to other school districts in trade for adding those students to their own programs.

For a full list of cuts, pop over to:

https://www.coupeville.k12.wa.us/Page/300

That list, last updated June 21, does not reflect one recent change — reducing the number of teachers being cut.

Earlier in the evening Thursday, the school board approved the hires of Annie Deposit (K-5), Brett Casey (3rd grade), and Jessica Graham (Elementary School) as part of the consent agenda.

The trio, who come in with lower pay rates than their predecessors, replace teachers who, respectively, resigned, continued a leave, and retired, and are necessary to meet K-3 class size targets.

The cuts, which came at the sole discretion of the superintendent, were made in response to the school board approving a Modified Education Plan in April.

This was after the general fund balance dipped well below the target — 6% of the budget year’s expenditures — and the board instructed King to cut up to $1.45 million.

In his remarks Thursday, the superintendent hit on familiar themes — that, in his opinion, the pandemic, the McCleary ruling, unreliable support from the legislature, and rising costs — are impacting all school districts, and not just Coupeville.

While acknowledging the personal loss entailed in cutting jobs, he stands behind his decisions.

“I applaud everyone’s passion,” King said. “What I am proud of is that we have been able to protect student programs, that we are not discussing the loss of those.”

That was a statement echoed by Gianello, who has only been on the job a short time after replacing the retired Denise Peet.

“There are challenges, but also celebrations. Not cutting programs is one of those, I believe,” Gianello said.

“Is this a perfect plan? Probably not, but I think it’s a good framework with some flexibility in it.”

The budget shows projected revenues of $18,443,000 for 2023-2024, with expenses of $18,438,027, giving Coupeville an excess of revenues of $4,973.

The “flexibility” of the budget garnered much discussion at two lightly attended budget workshops, but in front of a half-full room Thursday, board members largely passed on a chance to rehash their questions.

Several crowd members made public comments, primarily in support of paraeducators.

“Adopting a budget that is intent on decimating paraeducators is not in the best interest of our district, and, most importantly, our students,” said Coupeville Education Support Association President Shelly LaRue.

“Paraeducators are valuable and irreplaceable,” added Coupeville Middle School teacher Katja Willeford.

In the end, board members, eyeing an Aug. 1 Washington state deadline for school budgets, opted to accept the proposed budget.

Christie Sears, Alison Perera, Morgan White, and Nancy Conard voted yes, while Sherry Phay voted no.

“I will not vote for a budget which puts priority on a food program over support staff,” Phay said.

White, who graduated from CHS, is now raising her own children in Cow Town — Cole and Riley — with husband Greg, another Wolf alumni.

In trying to find a middle ground, her voice was overcome with emotion as she put words to the thoughts of many, while never claiming to speak for anyone but herself.

“The conversation doesn’t end here,” White said. “This is the beginning, and it is really good to be having these very hard conversations.

“Kindness has been on my mind a lot lately,” she added.

“I really believe everyone in this room is trying to do the right thing.

“We may disagree on some things, but I hope we can continue to work with kindness, and show love and care for each other, and for the kids we are working for.”

In the end, though, CMS teacher Wilbur Purdue, a 21-year teaching vet and true son of the prairie, probably summed it up best in his comments to the board.

“It’s shaping up to be a challenging year.”