Coupeville school budget cuts approved in 4-1 vote

Despite strong objections from some members of the community, painful reductions to the Coupeville School District 2023-24 budget will move forward.

The cuts include the elimination of Dean Tom Black’s position, two paraeducators funded by pandemic-era grants, a paraeducator by attrition, and Jessica Caselden’s athletic trainer position, as well as the reduction of paraeducator hours by 30 minutes.

A community effort is underway, however, to save the athletic trainer, which costs the district $8,600 a year.

During a meeting on July 27, the Coupeville School Board approved the budget in a 4-1 vote, authorizing the district to spend up to $18.4 million from the general fund and about $3 million from the capital projects fund for voter-approved projects in the 2023-24 school year, according to Board Member Alison Perera.

In an email, Superintendent Steve King said that the total reductions will be adjusted in the next couple of weeks after a meeting with the leadership team at the end of next week. The budget cuts were last updated on June 21, amounting to about $1.27 million, according to the district’s website.

Board Member Sherry Phay voted no, earning the applause of a small crowd of parents and teachers, some of whom wore red shirts to show solidarity with the paraeducators.

“I will not vote for a budget that reflects a priority for its food program over the support means as they relate to teaching and learning,” she said.

During the meeting, King said most districts in the state have been forced to make budget reductions and have been dealing with inadequate funding from the state. He said he expects there will be a decade of financial challenges post-COVID-19 for many districts.

“If anything, we should be adding staff and rewarding staff, providing more support for students,” he said during the meeting.

Board members Nancy Conard and Morgan White said approving the budget cuts was a necessary but painful decision, as they needed to adopt the budget by Aug. 1. However, they believe there is more work to be done.

“This isn’t the end of our conversation,” White said. “We’re not losing sight of the priorities.”

After the meeting, some participants agreed the state needs to better fund special education. Still, many were disappointed.

Scott Price, a parent with a child enrolled in the district, said he feels discouraged. After all the social media posts, emails, petition signatures and public testimonies, the battle to bring Black back is over.

“All that stuff happened in tiny Coupeville,” he said. “I was an interested, somewhat active parent, and I’m now not interested to participate or even see what they’re doing because I know it doesn’t make any difference.”

Shelly LaRue, president of the Coupeville Education Support Association, spoke to the board during the meeting.

“Adopting a budget that is intent on decimating paraeducators is not in the best interest of our district and, most importantly, our students,” she said.

She explained that paraeducators serve as social-emotional behavior specialists, reading interventionists, nursing assistants and even security guards who make sure their students are safe on their way to and from school.

King wrote in an email that the decision to reduce the paraeducators’ hours makes the district consistent with most school districts, and it won’t cause any disruptions to student services while helping the school retain staff and reducing expenses.

“Students are only here for six hours per day and paraeducators have been on a seven-hour-per-day contract,” he wrote.

According to King, the majority of school districts have paraeducators working 6.5 hours or less, and there is no need for them to work beyond the school day hours.

In his email to the community, King said that despite staff reductions, all in-district students in special programs will continue to be fully served, except for preschoolers with special needs, whose day will be reduced by 15 minutes.

The district is already struggling with accommodating an increasing number of special education students and parents worry that the budget cuts will only exacerbate the issue.

Cariann Nicole Dockery, for example, is concerned that her 13-year-son, who has autism and is in the Individualized Education Program, may not be able to continue with the program since the family lives outside the district.

For the past several years, Dockery received calls from school officials informing her that they couldn’t take her son, though she successfully protested the decision. This year, she has received the same call and worries that she will either have to homeschool him or take him to another district, where he may struggle to adapt to the new environment. In Coupeville, he has friends and peers who are patient with him.

“I’m worried when he goes to a new school, he’s going to be bullied,” she said. “They’re not going to be patient. They’re going to be mean, and it’s just really going to be difficult for him.”

Additionally, her youngest son’s paraeducator is being eliminated as a result of the budget cuts.

In an email, King wrote that the district has the discretion to deny a choice transfer due to a program being full.

As of Aug. 3, no final decision has been made as the district waits to have a complete number of students from the district, according to Director of Special Education and Special Services Allyson Cundiff.

“It is irresponsible for a district to accept a Choice Transfer for a program that is full as it will limit the needs of each individual within the program,” Cundiff wrote in an email.

According to Cundiff, in the 2022-23 school year there were 20 paraeducators in the district and more than 250 students in the district’s special education programs, 165 of whom are in the Individualized Education Program, or IEP. All students in the district will be accommodated, King wrote.

In the meantime, it appears that the community may save the athletic trainer position.

In an Aug. 1 post, Coupeville Sports writer David Svien echoed the community’s appreciation for Caselden, who has had a dual role as a teacher and an athletic trainer.

“While the 2023-2024 budget, passed last Thursday, does not fund the athletic trainer position, we, as a community, have a chance to change that,” Svien wrote.

As of Thursday, Aug. 3, the GoFundMe fundraiser “Protect, inspire Wolf athletes” has garnered almost $3,000. According to Svien, King confirmed the district will accept a scholarship donation to keep Caselden’s second job.

In an email, Caselden expressed her gratitude to Svien and the donors for their support.

“Not every town cares the way the people here do,” she wrote. “Community support was a main reason I wanted to move back home after living elsewhere at the start of my career.”