Olympia School Board OKs plan for layoffs, including teachers

OLYMPIA — Expecting a budget shortfall in the millions of dollars, the Olympia School Board approved layoffs of up to 37.5 full-time-equivalent jobs in the teaching or administrative ranks at its meeting Monday night.

Superintendent Bill Lahmann put forth the plan to reduce the number of teachers through layoffs to comply with state law on notification of certificated employees, but he said he will not finalize his budget proposal or his list of possible program and service cuts to the Olympia district until the state Legislature settles on the level of money that public schools will receive.

The state provides the majority of funding to the Olympia School District.

"We're going to the last minute on everything to not create angst," Lahmann told the board.

The employees who receive notice could be teachers or administrators with teaching certificates, but the exact number and who might receive notice is unknown, district spokesman Peter Rex said.

The proposal assumes a budget shortfall of $2.6 million in the 2009-2010 budget, based on the budget proposal put forth by the state Senate, said district assistant superintendent of fiscal and operations Jim Crawford.

"That does not equate to 38 employees, unfortunately," said district director of human resources Beth Scouller. "That number equates to much higher."