I tried to preempt the rollout, but . . .

Tomorrow morning the recommendations for budget adjustments will be posted to our web page. Fifty plus pages of information, recommended adjustments, and areas studied, but not recommended for adjustments from the small team of administrators. I was a member of this small team as their facilitator so I did not have the opportunity to advocate and be part of the decisions. This was very difficult for me to do because of my beliefs and opinions on the content being reviewed. Early in the process I struggled with this role and made some statements that were perceived as parameter setting and advocating, but after some feedback realized that it was not supporting the work and that I must make the choice to facilitate. I owe this wise choice to Mark for the feedback that helped me realize the role I was playing. Thank you, Mark.

I want to thank these people for their work and commitment. They spent hours and hours in the basement of the Transportation Center and many additional hours preparing for the basement discussions. The use of SPACE was evident and was necessary as much of the discussion created emotion with the potential for fight or flight. They didn’t do either; they disagreed and were able to continue the discussion until consensus was reached. I don’t recall one time when there was the need to use MOST for reaching consensus. I am proud to be associated with them and with this work product.

I think Lara Lindersmith said it better than I could when she shared this on the discussion board.

That said, I would like to remind people that when budget decisions are made public, know the committee did their best in trying to do their best for our students. I am not a member of the budget committee, but I can only imagine what an incredibly difficult task they have. They may not implement your suggestion and they may not do what is best for every individual child or district employee, but they are trying to do what is best for the most students. It is important to remember that they look at the complete picture, which most of us do not get the opportunity to see. Let's remember to treat each other with the respect and professionalism each one of us deserves.



There are so many things I want to share. Here are just a few of the things I learned in no particular order.
· I care deeply for the people in this school system. It is very difficult to balance this caring with the need to maintain focus on our young people and the short and long term health of our school district. Balancing these competing commitments is very difficult while making budget adjustments.

· I am so proud of principals, assistant principals, supervisors, non-represented central office staff, and department supervisors for the decision to take a 2.25% to 3% salary cut next year. This is not a wage freeze as you see others taking in surrounding school districts; it is a cut to current salary. They made this decision early in the process thinking others might follow. When this didn’t happen there were concerns expressed, but they reconfirmed their earlier decision. Thank you so much for this demonstrated commitment to our young people and to our school system.

· We are blessed to have a quality school board. They have also met for many hours preparing for Tuesday. Their commitment is evident in the discussions and the process they have chosen. They want to use their knowledge base to make the critical decisions that they face while balancing the need for public influence during the process. These have been difficult decisions and balancing these will become more difficult as they enter the final decision making and public phase of the process.

· The antiquated public school financing system at the state level must change if we are to meet the needs of today’s youth for success in their future. We can’t provide the comprehensive program demanded by these needs with formulas to meet the needs as they were in the late 1970’s. I fear that the recent push to raise the local levy limits will be the answer from Olympia. This has not worked in the past and won’t work in the future. It simply leads to more inequity and struggles at the local level.

· We have a remarkable school district. The young people that we work with have talent and capacity that allow us to be successful. The adults in our district care and are committed to supporting their needs and we have support structures in place for students and for staff.

· The need for focusing first on the Central Office when needing budget adjustments was not new learning for me, but it was reinforced multiple times during the discussions in the basement and in the community. When you read the report I believe that you will see this in the results. Almost one third of the recommended adjustments come from budgets controlled in Central Office departments.
o Central Office Recommended Adjustments $1,101,000
o Total Other Recommended Adjustments $2,517,000

· One of the reasons we are a school system that parents want for their children and that adults want to work in is because of the work done through the Teaching and Learning Department. Nancy, Dawn, Ann, and Kristin are treasures that I wish all could come to understand and appreciate as I do. Unfortunately, for many this is the place where adjustments should first come because they are perceived to not be close to the kids. The committee did review this department first and made the decision to recommend adjustments totaling approximately one third of the department’s current budget. These changes, if accepted by the board, will result in significant impact on our ability to support adult learning and leadership development; two areas of our work that have had influence on who we are and one of the reasons why we are a destination place for families and staff. This is difficult for me to not view as a priority, but when placed alongside people losing their jobs, the context does change.

I could go on, but maybe I’ll leave some for later. Before stopping, I want to share one of the drivers for the committee was the need for balance in the recommendations so that no employee group would be perceived as having the adjustment made on their back. When you review the report I believe that you will see this. You may not agree on the specific recommended adjustments, but balance is evident if one can objectively view the data in Table I on page 6 of the report.



I tried to link the report, but I cannot figure out how to embed an Adobe file into Blogger and I'm tired of trying. When you open it from the web page I encourage you to read the Introduction and Summary before looking at the specific adjustment recommendations so that you have a context for how the decisions were reached.

Thanks for caring and remember to thank those who worked on the report.

Lori Cloud, Director of Financial Services
Tony Davis, Director of Athletics and THS Assistant Principal
Emilie Hard, Glacier Park Elementary Principal
Mark Koch, Cedar River Middle School Principal
Mike Maryanski, Superintendent and committee facilitator (non‐voting member)
Sheri Melewski, Food Services Director
Rob Morrow, Tahoma Junior High Principal
Kevin Patterson, Public Information Officer (non‐voting member)
Nancy Skerritt, Assistant Superintendent and Director of Teaching and Learning
Annette Whittlesey, Director of Special Services
Bruce Zahradnik, Assistant Superintendent and Director of Human Resources