This letter was just released to all WSFCS stakeholders.

It is the official response to the State Board of Education and DPI’s request for a plan to balance the budget discrepancies that blind-sided this district.

Be reminded that two of the five people (signers and cc’ed) listed specifically above will not be full-time leaders when this is all “settled” and the next school year starts.

As a teacher in front of students every school day who knows that other employees of this school system (like our bus drivers) are just as vital to our mission for the community, this paragraph is a little unsettling:

When you say “include, but not limited to” when identifying measures to make up a $36 million shortfall in the next 13 months (the 2025-2026 budget is about to kick in), you are intentionally saying that anything is on the chopping block.

The manner in which all of this has happened shows a level of non-transparency and lack of vital communication whose effects may reverberate for many years in this school district.

There must be a line-item explanation for every “cut” that is being explored before anything happens which all employees have access so they can openly be part of the discussion.

Think of it as an assignment that has to be completed in order to even think about passing the class.