MARYSVILLE – If opening-day enrollment numbers hold, the Marysville School District may be in for some relief.
A year after enduring the longest teachers strike in state history, enrollment was relatively flat Tuesday on the first day of classes. Flat is good in Marysville, which saw enrollment drop by more than 400 students the previous two years. The district ended last school year July 19 with roughly 10,600 students.
“Right now, it looks like pretty good news, that the enrollment has held and may even be growing,” said Larry Nyland, who became superintendent in July.
The Marysville School Board last month approved an $83.5 million budget that planned for the worst – the loss of another 200 students. The conservative estimate took into consideration the sluggish job market and lingering effects from the 49-day strike.
Enrollment drives staffing. Schools receive on average $5,200 per full-time student from the state for basic education.
Marysville officials say enrollment numbers will be more reliable later this week. Some families were still enrolling students Tuesday and other students could be on extended Labor Day vacations.
If enrollment holds, the district will begin hiring more positions next week. It started the year with more than 40 fewer teaching positions than a year ago.
Meanwhile, as school begins, an old issue will resurface.
The nine-member state Supreme Court will meet behind closed doors Thursday to discuss an appeal by two Marysville School Board members facing a recall campaign.
Board members Ron Young and Helen Mount came under fire last year during the strike and after they joined their colleagues on the board to extend the contract of former Superintendent Linda Whitehead. Three other incumbents were voted out of office, and Whitehead’s contract was bought out for $340,000.
The high court could decide to set a date to hear oral arguments or it could decide to allow the recall to proceed or dismiss the appeal.
“Or they could decide (they) need more information,” said Lorrie Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Administrative Office of the Courts in Olympia.
While dismissing several allegations, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge George Bowden ruled in January that there were sufficient legal grounds to allow the recall election to move forward. He based his ruling on a school board decision to schedule a makeup day Feb. 14, 2003, even though it was a nonschool day under the board’s labor agreement with teachers.
Based on advice from its attorney, the board scheduled the makeup day one month after teachers participated in a statewide rally in Olympia on a day that had been scheduled for classes. Most teachers didn’t show up for the makeup day, and an arbiter sided with the union, saying the district needed to pay teachers for the lost day.
By state law, it was not up to the judge to decide if the allegations in the recall petition were true or not. Rather, he had to decide if the actions could constitute misfeasance, malfeasance or a violation of the board members’ oaths of office.
Lisa Griffith, one of the three school district residents filing the recall, said it will be nice to get a ruling from the Supreme Court.
“We are so glad that the date is finally here,” she said.
If the court decision stands, recall backers would have 180 days to gather enough signatures to place the measure on a ballot.
If the recall succeeds at the polls, it would be up to the school board to decide who would replace Mount and Young for the remainder of their terms, which expire after the November 2005 general election.
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