MARYSVILLE — Taxpayers in the Marysville School District picked up a nearly $400,000 tab for the longest teachers strike in state history, according to figures the district released Thursday.
The money — roughly $8,140 a day for the 49-day strike — was spent on security guards, attorney fees and secretaries, and a wide spectrum of other expenses such as printing, mailings and custodians.
"This is all money we spent on the argument itself, and I think it is money that should have been spent on education," said Stacey Taplin, a senior at Marysville-Pilchuck High School.
By a 98 percent margin, teachers voted to strike Sept. 1. They voted to return to the classroom Oct. 22 after a judge ordered them back. Teachers still don’t have a contract.
Both sides blame the strike-related costs on each other.
Elaine Hanson, president of the 650-member Marysville Education Association, said the Marysville School Board and superintendent Linda Whitehead made "a costly mistake" by not coming up with an acceptable offer in August.
"All through the strike, parents and teachers have been questioning Dr. Whitehead’s decision to spend money on PR consultants, extra uniformed security guards and high-priced downtown Seattle attorneys," Hanson said.
Hanson was particularly critical of the district for spending money on a security company.
"I’m not sure who they were protecting," she said. "It wasn’t as though the teachers were going to go in to damage their own classrooms."
District spokeswoman Judy Parker points back at the teachers union, saying the strike was illegal and the money would have been better spent in the classroom helping students reach state academic standards.
"It is unfortunate that the union chose this route," she said.
Marysville beefed up security based on advice from other districts that experienced long teachers strikes, Parker said. Although the security workers roved from school to school, there was 24-hour, seven-day-a-week presence across the district during the strike, she said.
The district felt it needed to protect millions of dollars worth of buildings for the taxpayers, Parker said.
"We truly believe that is because we had security and people knew we were serious, we didn’t have anyone taking advantage of us as a result," she said.
Parker said the district created separate accounting codes to track strike costs.
"We wanted to do that because we thought our taxpayers should know what this cost them," she said.
By comparison, Issaquah spent $140,000 for its 15-day strike last year, roughly $9,341 a day, she said.
The strike expenses don’t spell out the whole financial toll.
Enrollment has plummeted, in large part because of the strike, since last year. The district had 11,816 full- and part-time students in October 2002. When official counts were taken this October, that number had dwindled to 11,180. School districts receive about $5,200 from the state per full-time students, according to state statistics.
The district now faces a $2 million shortfall from the $82.25 million budget it adopted in August, with about $1.85 million caused by the loss of students, according to district records.
That’s something the school board will have to sort out. Three new members — a majority on the five-member board — will be installed on Dec. 1. The new board members are all supported by the teachers.
No new negotiations have been set between the district and the teachers.
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
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