Yakima School District Faces Dire Budget Crunch; Numerous Jobs Will Be Cut

Enrollment in the Yakima School District has been declining since 2018 and that has cost the district a lot of money.

The declines have been so great that the district has been forced to approve layoffs for more than 100 employees.

THE LAYOFFS ARE PLANNED FOR THE 2024-2025 SCHOOL YEAR

School board members made the decision at a board meeting at Yakima School District Offices on Monday.

THE LAYOFFS INCLUDE ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS

The layoffs will impact various departments. The the planned layoffs will cut English Language Development teachers, paraeducators, academic specialists and counselors.

The layoff list also includes 10 assistant principals, health assistants and child care coordinators as well as migrant student advocates.

The move cuts some $14 million dollars in costs in the Yakima School District.

The district is trying to fill a $20 million budget gap caused by the enrollment drop.

1,463 students have left the district since the 2017-2018 school year and that means a lot of state money isn't available to the district resulting in the cuts.

NO CUTS ORDERED THIS YEAR BECAUSE OF THE DISTRICT RESERVE

The major cuts weren't made this year because the district used reserve money to balance the budget. But it's a different story next school year.

District officials are thankful voters approved a recent replacement levy.

If the levy would have failed, the district could have faced an even larger deficit of some $58 million.

The layoffs are planned for the 2024-25 school year.