Shoreline Schools Vow to Keep Slashing Budget

Community Budget Meeting Tonight - Wednesday, December 11

5:00 - 6:00 pm

Join Zoom Meeting

• Meeting ID: 840 1165 1914
• Passcode: 675360
• Dial-In Phone Numbers: 1-253-215-8782 or 1-669-900-6833

After mistakenly thinking they'd need to close an elementary school and having a committee spend countless hours in meetings over a year to come up with the most viable "candidate" (which ended up being Highland Terrace) only to realize a big "boo-boo" occurred. 

They forgot that 6th graders are at the middle school level, not the elementary level, so their demographic and budget numbers were off. Last November, the school board blamed the "whoopsy" on the "demographer's enrollment projections." They then stated that an elementary school closure wouldn't be necessary. The school board did not apologize to the parents, educators, and staff for the oversight, the unnecessary turmoil caused, or the time wasted by committee members, many of whom were volunteers. 

An oversight that doesn't exactly exude confidence in the school district's math skills moving forward. 

At some point, the budget showed a 9 million dollar surplus, but now Superintendent Reyes is claiming, in an email to Shoreline Schools staff on December 10th, 2024, that the district will be in the hole between 1.5-3.5 million for the 2025-26 school year.

"Without major changes to our spending, we are projected to end the 2025-26 school year with -$1.5 to -$3.5 million unreserved fund balance (UFB)."

Shoreline Schools staff email

The email sent to staff on Dec. 10th, 2024, with the subject line "Our Path to Restoring Fiscal Stability," states what all staff is painfully familiar with: "For the past two years, our district has navigated financial difficulties by implementing spending reductions, hiring freezes, and temporary cost-saving measures, thanks to the cooperation of our labor partners." (labor partners=teacher unions).

This has resulted in teachers and staff doing more with fewer resources and higher class sizes. It's been reported that some physical education classes at Shorecrest have upwards of 45 students. Virtually every elementary school is above contractual student levels without any paraeducational support. 

The email also states, "Using community and staff survey feedback, financial analysis, School Board guidance, and input from leadership across the district, our team is carefully developing the REP. The preliminary proposal will be presented at the January 14, 2025, School Board meeting, and we will continue to engage with our labor partners to navigate these challenges collaboratively."   

LFP Town Crier has reached out to Superintendent Reyes regarding another statement in the email: "School Board policy requires a minimum ending unreserved fund balance of 4%, which is set to maintain the district’s financial stability," and will update this article if a response is received regarding the origin of the 4% figure.  

See the previous article about Washington Schools on the brink of bankruptcy.