Sunnyside Schools Expect Cutbacks to Include 18 Jobs (WA)

May 7, 2010

Some details are still up in the air, but about 18 jobs will be lost as the Sunnyside School District continues to work out plans to cut $1.6 million.

Most of the losses will be absorbed though resignations and retirements, said Curtis Campbell, district spokesman. Plans for some positions are still undecided.

The school board Thursday unanimously passed a resolution detailing how the district will cope with a drop in state funding as it drafts the 2010-2011 school year budget.

School board members agreed to the measures after turning down a proposed $2.2 million cut.

They plan to make up the $600,000 difference with a projected increase in federal money, Campbell said. They do not plan to draw on reserves.

The board agreed to eliminate preschool, cut building budgets, reduce literacy consulting contracts, cut back on capital projects, eliminate an administrative position and cut back on district office support staff.

The capital project cuts won’t affect the upcoming expansion of the high school, Campbell said.

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Also, the district plans to cut the positions of four home visitors hired by the federally funded migrant student program because the district has fewer migrant students than in the past, Campbell said. Those cuts are unrelated to the board’s decisions last week.