When the state audit of the WSFCS finances was released in response to the budget crisis of 2025, it combed through years of financial statements.

What was found was not a one time incident that set the district astray, but a series of mistakes that compounded upon each other to create this storm of a deficit.

2017 is eight years ago. Three years before the pandemic. Four superintendents ago. Three school boards ago. Four Chief Financial Officers ago. And lots of turnover.

That state audit report was released last week. And the email we as teachers received the evening of August 12th relayed the recommended cuts that are still to be determined.

That’s 300-350 more positions being cut, mostly on school sites.

A problem that has been brewing and growing for years, and it feels like the brunt of the effects is to be felt by those who did not create it.

And they have had only one week to begin to digest it.

When you specifically say what areas HIL (the contracted company helping to identify potential solutions) are looking to cut, then every person in those areas at each school must have to carry the added weight of uncertainty.

Students do not need to be in schools where the very people they may be relying on for services are burdened by a problem not created by educators.

And where has the input from teachers and other site-based educators been asked for by HIL, the school board, or Central Office?