It’s liable to get worse before it gets better. But the goal of everyone involved is for it to get better.
That was the consensus Wednesday as the Coupeville School Board and the district’s Financial Director, Brian Gianello, met with the public for a listening event.
As the work on a budget for the 2024-2025 school year begins to heat up, no one involved sugarcoated things as they addressed the current financial shortfall.
The brutal reality is the district, like many in the region, is bringing in less revenue than it needs to break even, and officials expect to have to make substantial budget cuts.
Gianello opened things Wednesday by acknowledging the early projections of needing to slash $1.6 million — while already sobering — might not be enough.
“We could get up to two million,” he said. “Or possibly less. That would be the hope.”
With 87% of expenses related directly to staffing, that means the likelihood of cuts through attrition due to retirements and departures or “reduction in force” remains at the forefront.
“The unfortunate fact is this is going to affect (our) people,” Gianello said.
Board directors Nancy Conard and Alison Perera have been working closely with the finance director, and both spoke to the tough work required to right a ship which is drifting, but not sunk.
“This will likely be a multi-year process,” Conard said. “There may have to be deep cuts initially, which is not a fun process for anyone. It puts us all on pins and needles.”
The former longtime Coupeville Mayor, who was herself the school district’s Financial Director during times of great success, is well-known and highly respected for her fiscal credentials.
She brings an air of gravitas to her work, something on display as she joined Perera and Gianello in seeking a balance between the many positives offered by her own alma mater, and the hard choices likely needed.
“We take our budget work very seriously,” Conard said. “We know the consequences.”
During a period of turnover on the school board, the district also dealt with the pandemic.
Rising costs on everything from insurance to benefits, plus a failure of the state legislature to deliver on its financial promises, further complicates matters.
“It’s been a perfect storm of a bunch of things,” Gianello said.
Coupeville is far from the only district in a tough financial bind, however.
Gianello stated at the meeting that 28 of 35 districts served by Northwest Educational Service District 189 are on a “financial watch list.” Coupeville’s web site has that number listed at 25 of 35.
Three districts — La Conner, Mount Baker, and Marysville — are under “binding conditions” in which a district has had to borrow money from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction.
Coupeville has borrowed money, but from its own capital projects fund, and outgoing Superintendent Steve King has stated “I do not anticipate that we will be going into binding conditions.”
The district borrowed $400,000, which it has a year to repay.
Gianello has previously stated the plan is to repay the loan in April, one of two months, along with October, when levy funds come in.
After that, it’s expected there will be an additional ask for approximately $800,000 in May “to be able to make it through the remainder of the school/fiscal year.”
As they work towards a budget for 2024-2025, school board directors want to better match revenues and expenses, while also restoring the fund balance.
The district is supposed to have 6% of its budget on hand, something which it has not been able to do for some time now.
This has been due to several factors, Conard said.
“I think there were likely overly optimistic budget estimates during tough times, and we were likely not as good on reporting as we needed to be.”
Moving forward, district officials will produce a “Modified Education Plan,” which will detail potential cuts. Also, an analysis is being done of current labor contracts.
The plan will be presented to the public in April, with more listening events planned in conjunction.
There is a May 1 deadline for unions to be informed of any possible “reduction in force” cuts.
The 2024-2025 budget needs to be adopted by the end of July.
Budget cuts will likely drive the conversation, as they did last summer when Dean of Students Tom Black and Athletic Trainer Jessica Caselden were among high-profile employees who at least initially lost their jobs.
Not to be overshadowed, however, are the many positives of the school district.
The search for a replacement for King has attracted 10 candidates to the full application process, and more are expected in the final days before the closing date.
Alison Perera spoke to the strengths of the district, from “the support of the community” to the “fact we have pretty safe schools.”
“Our staff know their students, those students are put first, and there is great participation by students, who have a sense of belonging and school and community pride,” she added.
“We don’t want to lose this.”
Academics, sports, and other extracurricular activities are strong.
While there will likely be differences in opinions in where cuts will be made, all involved pledged to take into consideration what community members and taxpayers have to say.
“When we have a modified education plan in place, we will hold more listening events,” Conard said. “And they will likely be more boisterous (than tonight), which is understandable.
“But this is necessary. If we don’t do it, the state will take control of our school district, and we don’t want that.”
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