Voluntary wage freeze for Lake Stevens schools

In response to the grim financial forecast, Lake Stevens School District principals, associate principals and central office administrators have voted unanimously to voluntarily take a salary freeze for the 2009-2010 school year.

“It is a proactive step that we as an administrative team can take in an effort to hopefully save district-wide jobs next school year,” stated John Gebert, Chair of the Administrative Leadership Team. “We believe that this is the right thing to do – jobs for school district employees and programs for students are at stake – it’s our goal to work as a team to mitigate those cuts in every possible way.”

“These are extraordinary times for our district.  As a board we appreciate our principals and administrators in their leadership and thoughtfulness in taking the step to freeze their salaries to help address the budget shortfall that we will face next year,” School Board President Mari Taylor said.

Similar to districts throughout Washington, Lake Stevens School District is planning for significant budget cuts. Based on the Governor’s December budget, which projected a state deficit of $5.2 billion dollars, the districts estimate a $2.1 million dollar loss in revenue for its schools.

Recent state projections reflect a deficit of over $8 billion and cuts are expected to grow deeper than the Governor’s budget.

Compounding the expected cuts from the state, the district is projecting a decrease in student enrollment. State funding for schools is based on the number of students in attendance, fewer students result in decreased financial support from the state.