Edmonds school board discusses staff cuts, state legislation

EVERETT — The Edmonds school board discussed at its meeting Tuesday evening possible staff cuts to address its estimated $8.5 million deficit.

The board had its first reading of a reduced educational program for the 2025-26 school year, which includes cutting up to 12 certificated staff positions. Twelve is the absolute maximum, Superintendent Rebecca Miner said, and the second reading April 29 may include fewer positions. The board may choose to cut other positions when it passes its final budget in July.

“This does not represent any budget impacts,” Miner said. “So we did not raise class sizes.That’s not a part of this number. We didn’t change any staffing ratios, anything like that.”

The number of staff may change based on resignations and school schedule changes, Miner said.

Staff members must be notified of their termination by May 15, according to state law. The deadline has always been a “hardship,” Miner said, because of how close it is to the end of the legislative session.

The final fate of the district’s budget hinges on two bills in the state Legislature. One would provide funding for special education. The other would fund materials, supplies and operating costs. With 11 days until the end of the legislative session, the board encouraged the community to reach out to members of the Legislature about these bills.

“I feel like there’s understanding at the legislative level of what the situation is,” board President Nancy Katmis said. “And I haven’t felt that before.”

At the federal level, the district could be impacted by proposed legislation to remove tax exempt status on certain bonds, board member Keith Smith said.

“So as we speak to our state representatives about ways to get funding, here’s a little secret way that our funding is kind of being cut at the federal level as well,” Smith said.

The board received 11 online public comments urging the board to reconsider cuts to sixth grade music, middle school athletics and student intervention coordinators. The board proposed the three cuts in its “Balancing Act” simulation in March. In the simulation, community members had the chance to balance the budget from a list of potential cuts and new revenue streams.

“Hearing so many people talk about the budget keeps me as a student really hopeful that so many people in our community care, even people that don’t have students in the school district,” said Tatiana Lindberg, a student advisor for the school board from Edmonds Heights K-12 School. “And I think for me, at least, the reason why I come to these and the reason why I choose to be a student representative on the board is because I feel that so many of the things that happen in our world start at education.”

Christie Palamides Lew, who has two kids in the district, urged the board during public comment to stop “using music and performing arts as an expendable line item in the budget.”

“In our current state of the world, I do not understand why a school district would do such a disservice to its students by taking this learning opportunity away from them,” Lew said.

Jenna Peterson: 425-339-3486; jenna.peterson@heraldnet.com; X: @jennarpetersonn.