The Bainbridge school board will begin a new round of budget cuts on Thursday to offset an estimated $1 million in losses for upcoming school year.

School administrators say they’ll almost certainly cut staff and reduce programs.

This latest round of cuts is compounded by a 10 percent reduction spread over the last two years.

School administrators are planning a 10-minute discussion on what they’re calling a “fiscal emergency” at Thursday’s board meeting (5:30 p.m. at the Bainbridge High School library).

For a roundup of school cuts across the county, read Marietta Nelson’s story HERE.

The City Council may keep five positions open during the coming year as part of an effort to cut $1 million from the 2010 budget.

The public works director and city engineer are among the jobs that could remain unfilled.

Some council members want to go further.

“I’d like to make staffing cuts rather than holding positions vacant,” said Mayor Bob Scales during a Monday budget meeting. He’s proposing that the deputy planning director and the city engineer positions be combined, and that the deputy police chief job be eliminated.

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Based on the talk at the last Bainbridge school board meeting, a new bond is a sure thing for the November ballot.

The price will be the same and so will the goals: replace Wilkes Elementary and renovate several other buildings.

Check out my story on the proposed bond here.

Also discussed at the meeting were the reduced staffing for the upcoming school year.

Certified staff (teachers, counselors, etc.) were 257 last year. Next year: 249.5

Classified staff (bus drivers, groundskeepers, food service workers) were 132 last year. Next year: 127.

The Bainbridge Island School Board unanimously passed a resolution Thursday evening to cut 12 teachers and six other certified positions.

The district is trying to offset an expected $2.2 million budget shortfall for the 2009-2010 school year.

Reductions include seven teachers in kindergarten through sixth grades and the equivalent of four teachers in seventh through 12th grades. An additional teaching position devoted to curriculum development will also be lost.

Other positions will be trimmed from the administrative, counseling, nursing, special education, home school support and multicultural education rosters.

The staffing reduction is likely the largest in the district’s history, Bainbridge Superintendent Faith Chapel said.

Bainbridge isn’t alone. Bremerton and North Kitsap school districts joined Bainbridge last week in issuing laying off notices for about three dozen teachers.

Read our story on the county-wide school cuts here.

As I reported here (in yesterday’s Sun), the Bainbridge Island School District may cut 18 certified positions – including 12 teachers – for the next school year.

“These kinds of cuts are devastating for a school district of our size,” school board President Mary Curtis said.

The proposed certified staff cuts is on top of possible reductions for classified staff (custodians, groundskeepers, etc.) I noted in a previous blog post.

The district will hold a public meeting on the cuts tomorrow (Thursday), 7 p.m., at Bainbridge High School.

The Bainbridge Island School District will hold a special meeting on Thursday to discuss eliminating one or two custodians, a half-time groundskeeper, a half-time bus dispatcher and a half-time assistant superintendent.

High school security personnel and paraeducators may see hours reductions.

The district may reduce administrator pay may by 2 percent, delay new curriculum, eliminate teacher stipends for clubs, close the district print shop and cut three daily bus runs down to two.

Fee increases are proposed for sports, clubs and facility rentals.

Districts across the state are also pondering layoffs and other cuts in reaction to a $9 billion state budget deficit.

The BISD meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Bainbridge High School.

Assistant City Engineer Ross Hathaway and manager of current planning Bob Katai – two of the city’s most senior staff – were casualties of this week’s round of layoffs.

A total of eight staffers were given pink slips on Monday. See my updated post on the layoffs for more info.

Hathaway, who has worked for the city for 10 years, declined to comment on his own status, but praised Katai for his service to the city.

“Bob knows the code inside and out,” Hathaway said. “It’s a terrible loss. His institutional knowledge was critical.”

Hathaway expressed concern for other laid-off coworkers who face few job prospects.

“It’s the worst job market since the Great Depression,” he said.

—Latest update: Wed. April 8, 7 p.m.

Eight more city employees were handed pink slips on Monday as part of a second round of layoffs in less than two months.

An additional 10 employees were put on reduced work schedules.

The reductions will take effect at the end of the month.

“All departments were impacted by these actions,” said City Administrator Mark Dombroski, who made the cuts after the City Council directed him to make $1 million worth of staff-related cuts as park of a city-wide $3.6 million reduction plan to match rapidly declining revenues.

Under Dombroski’s staff reduction plan, two roads-related public works staff, a water resources engineer, a code enforcement support staffer, a planning department office specialist, a police parking enforcement officer, a planner and a capital projects manager will lose their jobs.

“It’s tough to handle. It’s tough to take,” said public works mechanic Mark Bartholomew, who will lose two coworkers from the operations and maintenance shop where he works. “Our tempers aren’t high and we’re trying to stay close.”

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The city of Bainbridge Island laid off six employees as part of a larger $2.3 million batch of planned cuts to keep pace with sharply declining revenues.

“Our cash levels have dropped to extremely low levels and our current revenues have seen dramatic decrease in the last few months,” City Administrator Mark Dombroski told the City Council during a meeting on Wednesday. “We have to take action now.”

The layoffs, proposed hiring freezes and other labor cost-cutting measures will help the city save about $1 million in 2009. Three employees in the planning department, two in public works and one in information technology were given termination notices this week. They are scheduled to leave in March.

“Unfortunately, the current economic reality has made (layoffs) unavoidable,” Dombroski said.

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UPDATED: The city is starting the year with about a third less money than it expected, spurring talk of substantial cuts to nearly every part of city government.

“There’s going to be dramatic cuts,” city Finance Director Elray Konkel said. “Nothing’s sacred. Not staff. Not community services.”

The city had predicted late last year that the city would start 2009 with $3.3 million. But the downward spiral of city revenues has only quickened, leaving the city with just $2.1 million to work with at the start of January.

In response, the administration is planning to slash about 15 percent of the operations budget, which funds staff and most city services.

“We’re looking at everything, and changing the way we do business,” Konkel said.

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Six teachers, an outdoor environmental program and school librarian hours are the latest casualties from the island’s third consecutive year of declining public school enrollment.

Read the story below…

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