The waiting continues . . .

I know that we are not alone, but waiting for information is getting tiresome. We were supposed to have the tables from OSPI on Thursday to understand the differences in revenue for the three budgets now unveiled in Olympia. As of Friday, still no release. Now we are being told tomorrow some time. As soon as we get this information we can begin our analysis to see how far apart they are and then narrow our target for budget adjustments. This information is critical because we need to have the committee’s recommendations ready for the board and public on Monday. We do not want to make adjustments at a deeper level than necessary so the sooner we get this information the more time we will have to arrive at a number that we believe will be close to the final state budget due at the end of April.

By now, many of you know that we have shared with some certified staff that their positions are part of the recommendations that the board will consider. We did this because of the timing of spring break and the release of the information on April 13th. We wanted to share with these people before next Monday so that they would not come to work after break and be surprised by a colleague with a question or an I’m sorry statement. Though we are trying to provide general information whenever possible, some adjustments are tied to specific positions so it was important to share this with the potentially impacted individuals. Our principals and supervisors have spent many hours with Bruce and Lori struggling to make the adjustments based on the staffing they were given. I know that these were not easy decisions and that the board will experience the same difficulty in making the final decisions.

Well, for many this is the real beginning of experiencing this difficult situation. Unfortunately, there is more to come. Our administrative team has done a great job and their work continues this week as we make final decisions and prepare the information for board and public review.