At a Special Board Meeting on May 12, the Lopez Island School District Board of Directors were informed by Superintendent Bill Evans and Finance Director Joan Hartjes that no layoffs of regularly employed teachers for the 2009-2010 school year would be needed.

“It’s a time of deep anguish for us all,” said Evans, “as we balance our budgets partly on the backs of our people and our students – our most precious resources. So, as we celebrate no-layoffs to continuing teachers, as we mourn the loss of those staff and programs that were negatively affected in the process.”

The retirement of one teacher, three one-year contracts of retire/rehire teachers that will not be renewed and proposed reductions in a number of programs and activities made it possible for the District to retain all of the continuing-contract certificated staff.

Evans and Hartjes have been proposing budget savings in public meetings since January with the direction to try to save programs and activities most directly affecting students. The district’s proposed reductions including the elementary music program, athletics, high school drama, classified/support staff hours and the non-return of retire/rehire personnel.

May 15 was the legal deadline for school districts to inform their teachers of any layoffs, in a process called Reduction in Force that is strictly regulated by state rules and by local collective bargaining agreements.

Declining enrollment and reduction of state funding were responsible for a $320,000 deficit or 10 percent of the district’s operating budget.

All state school districts are required to submit a balanced budget to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) by late summer. The deadline for small schools to present their budget to the school board for approval is July 30.

The district will continue its budget process for school year 1009-10 with regular meetings of the District Budget Committee, public presentations to the board and staff and an ongoing search for donations, grants, or other sources of revenue.

According to a press release from the Lopez Island School District, administrators are committed to the restoration or minimizing the proposed reductions to music, drama, athletics and other programs.