Tumwater school board to swear in new members as district faces budget cuts
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Tumwater School District will swear in three new board members next week amid tricky financial times for the district.
The board on Tuesday selected Darby Kaikkonen to fill the seat previously held by Khalia Davis. Davis, who ran unopposed for reelection this year, withdrew from the race in October and backed a write-in candidate.
However, her name still appeared on the Nov. 5 ballot and she got 91 percent of the vote.
Kaikkonen will be sworn in Dec. 12 along with Scott Killough and Casey Taylor, who were elected last month.
In choosing Kaikkonen, the board cited her work as director of policy research at Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges and a volunteer in Tumwater schools, where she has two children enrolled.
The three join the board at a challenging time. In a video message to staff last month, Superintendent Sean Dotson said the district will look to make mid-year cuts as costs so far this year have exceeded projections.
At this rate, he said, the district risks spending all of its rainy day funds.
Dotson, who is in his first year with the district, said areas officials will look to for savings include supplies, staff overtime, travel and utilities. Positions that open up this school year may go unfilled.
“Until our budget is balanced, we’re looking line by line through our expenses, seeking ways to reduce or eliminate anything we can to make room to take care of other needs and to help reduce our budget deficit,” he said.
