N. Thurston plans for worst

District presented two different budgets; staff positions, sports, electives on the line

By Diane Huber | The Olympian • Published April 23, 2008

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LACEY – Students will have fewer electives, larger classes and higher extracurricular costs in North Thurston Public Schools if a levy fails May 20, Superintendent Jim Koval told board members Tuesday night.

Koval presented two budgets — one with $17.5 million in reductions that will be required if voters reject the renewal maintenance and operations levy, and one with $3.8 million cut if the levy passes. The board will vote to adopt both budgets at Monday's board meeting.

If the levy passes

Koval's recommendations for balancing the budget include:

• About 30 positions would be eliminated, mostly through attrition.

• Fees would increase for residents to use district pools, sports fields and other facilities.

• Start times would change to reduce transportation costs. High schools would start a half-hour earlier; middle schools would start about 9:20 a.m.

• The district would make cuts in administration, transportation, special education, career and technical education, and grant-supported safety and drug-prevention programs.

• School lunch prices would increase by 10 cents, to $2.65 for a regular-price lunch.

The plan incorporates feedback from four meetings the district had last week, in which attendees ranked their program priorities.

Residents who attended said their top priorities were special education and maintaining staff members who support teachers at schools, such as librarians and counselors. They said they'd prefer saving money through changing start and end times and increasing costs of facility rentals.

If the levy fails

Koval said it was difficult to incorporate the priority list from the meetings when cutting 16 percent of the budget that's covered by levy dollars, because nearly all programs would be affected.

"There's not a lot of wiggle room with $17.5 million," he said.

If the levy fails, Koval said, cuts will include:

• 255 positions will be eliminated through layoffs or attrition, including the jobs of 110 teachers. The district has about 2,000 full- and part-time positions.