EDMONDS, Wash. — This story was originally published on MyNorthwest.com.
The Edmonds School District will be cutting a dozen full-time employees, My Edmonds News reported Wednesday.
According to The Everett Herald, the Edmonds School Board approved a reduced education program at its meeting Tuesday—terminating up to 12 staff positions.
The cuts are in response to an $8.5 million budget deficit for the 2025-26 school year, which KIRO 7 reported is on top of a $25 million shortfall over the past two years.
My Edmonds News stated the district must notify the impacted staff by May 15.
“It’s unfortunate that we do have to subject some people to this (reduction in force) process, but it is something that we do go through annually at different scales,” Rob Baumgartner, assistant superintendent of human resources, said at Tuesday’s meeting, as reported by The Everett Herald.
Andi Nofziger-Meadows, president of the Edmonds Education Association, blames the cuts on lawmakers, according to KIRO 7.
“The state is bankrupting Edmonds and just about every other school district in the state,” Nofziger-Meadows said, reported the media outlet. “We’re all on the march to bankruptcy. Some of us will get there in a year or two, others might take three or four years – but we are all teetering on the brink of being insolvent.”
Edmonds School District launches community survey
The district previously launched a “Balancing Act” survey asking residents and families of students to weigh in on possible spending cuts and revenue increases.
“How can the school district be expected to decrease the budget when the price of everything else is inflating and continues to inflate?” one respondent asked. “Do we need to go down to a four-day school week?”
The most supported cut was eliminating elementary student intervention coordinators, saving $1.1 million.
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