News & Information

All administrators in the Bellingham School District have graciously offered a reduction in compensation in their 2009-10 school year contracts to help the School Board and Superintendent preserve the future integrity of the classroom experience for every student.

The resulting total budget savings of about $70,000 will come from a combination of unpaid furlough days, the suspension or reduction of negotiated professional development allocations, or paying more for benefit premiums. Furlough days will not equate to a reduction in workload with administrators' job responsibilities actually increasing for next school year due to the district's adopted Budget Savings Plan.

Administrators represented by the Bellingham Administrators' Organization (BAO) labor group and the six non-represented Central Administrative Team administrators initiated the reduction for next school year to support cost-saving strategies in these challenging economic times. The savings will be used to help offset reductions in the 2010-11 school year.

"The health and wellness of our schools and the Bellingham community at large lies in the quality of the people and the quality of the programs we provide for our children.  With that being said, we wish to contribute to the preservation of people and programs and maintain the academic integrity of the classroom experience for every child," says Tom Venable, Carl Cozier Elementary School principal and BAO co-president.

With the multibillion dollar state budget deficit, the Legislature reduced its funding for school districts in the next biennium, 2009-2011. The district's Budget Savings Plan for 2009-10, which resulted from a public process, reduced the district's non-employee related costs, administration and districtwide costs.

The Budget Savings Plan included not filling an open administrative position and eliminated three current administrative positions, which accounted for one third of the district's Central Services administration. The Budget Savings Plan also resulted in increased job responsibilities for remaining administrators and a significant reorganization of Central Services, which supports the schools with curriculum and instruction, supervision, staffing and human resources, communications, business and finance, technology, maintenance, transportation and more. Prior to the budget savings process, the district already ranked below the state average for numbers of administrators.

During the budget savings process, many staff members throughout the district suggested budget savings items related to decreases in salaries or benefits to help preserve the learning experience for children and lessen the number of layoffs or losses of job positions for staff.

Since most staff in the district are represented by labor organizations, these types of cost-saving measures need to be negotiated by law. The administrators organization, BAO, already had a negotiated contract for the 2009-10 school year, but initiated this agreement for reduced compensation through a Memorandum of Understanding with the School Board, approved at the June 11 meeting. The district is currently negotiating with the teacher's labor organization, Bellingham Education Association (BEA), and the maintenance and food service employees' association, Services Employees International Union (SEIU). The transportation employees' organization, Teamsters, and Bellingham Association of School Employees (BASE), which represents secretaries and school support staff, have contracts for 2009-10.