Reporter staff

A boost in state money will bring relief and save some jobs in the budget-beset Kent School District.

According to a school district website posting Friday, increased revenue from the state had the school district re-evaluating its financial health and the number of layoffs as it continues to close a budget gap.

As a result, the school district will eliminate 60 full-time employees through natural attrition as opposed to the 127 originally forecast – an allocation that was based on preliminary revenue numbers, the school district said in the release.

“An elimination of 60 FTE (full-time equivalent jobs) means that KSD will not be required to implement a RIF (reduction in force) for teachers. Therefore, KSD leadership will not present a reduction in force resolution to the (school) board for 2018-2019 and has notified the board of this development,” the release said.

The incoming revenue was brought on by Gov. Jay Inslee’s signing of House Bill 6362 on Tuesday, which improves on the McCleary school funding plan the Legislature approved last year – and includes educator salary increases in the 2018-19 school year. As part of its 2018 supplemental operating budget, the state is directing nearly $1 billion toward K-12 education to finally resolve the McCleary litigation and bring the state into compliance with its constitutional obligation to amply fund public schools.

After Inslee signed the bill into law, OSPI (Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction) updated its numbers, confirming the Kent School District will receive approximately $75 million in revenue.

The district announced on March 13 the elimination of nine administrator jobs and 127 staff positions in the 2018-19 school year. That followed the move to eliminate 45 positions in the district’s central-administration center and trim some employee benefits for the 2018-19 year.

Entering the 2017-18 school year as part of the KSD budget recovery plan, the district made $8 million worth of planned budget reductions and budgeting efficiencies, and through attrition were able to reduce nearly 90 full-time positions. With these efforts, KSD is projected to end August 2018, with a positive fund balance, Superintendent Calvin Watts said.

“The reduction in our work force is not an issue of personnel performance,” Watts said. “These changes were carefully considered over an extended period and took into account our responsibility to be good fiscal stewards of voter-approved dollars while ensuring that we are on course with our strategic plan and shared vision of higher standards for our students and ourselves.”

On Friday, the school district added in its statement:

“While anticipating a RIF has produced anxiety, uncertainty and frustration with our staff, students and community, it was based on the confirmed information about revenue we had at the time and the initiation of the RIF was aligned to negotiated contractual timelines. In the next week, principals will receive updated school staffing allocation sheets, and the staffing process will proceed as normal. KSD is also investigating how the RIF has impacted other employee groups. Thank you for working with us through this process and for the many who have stepped forward with solution-focused feedback.”

Read the full statement online.