Dear SWA Community Members,
Yesterday afternoon I met with district faculty and staff to address an important matter concerning our school district's financial situation. It is with a heavy heart that I must inform you of some challenging news: we are facing a projected budget shortfall for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year.
As many of you know, navigating budget constraints is never an easy task, especially in a small, rural school district like ours. Despite our best efforts to allocate resources efficiently, factors beyond our control have contributed to this shortfall. Declining enrollment, changes in state funding, and unforeseen expenses, including employee health insurance rate increases and certain programming costs, have all converged to create a financial gap that we must address.
In light of this shortfall, it is with great regret that we will need to make difficult decisions in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, one of the most significant areas where we will need to reduce expenditures is in our personnel costs. This means that we will again be faced with the challenging task of reducing the number of teachers and staff positions for the next school year.
I want to emphasize that these decisions are not taken lightly, and we recognize the immense dedication and hard work that each and every one of our faculty and staff members brings to our district every day. Their commitment to our students and our community is truly commendable, and it is deeply painful to contemplate the impact that these cuts will have on our staff and their families as well as our students.
As we move forward, please know that we are committed to approaching this process with transparency, fairness, and sensitivity. We will do everything in our power to support those affected by these changes and to minimize the impact on the quality of education we provide to our students.
I know that there will be questions. At this time I don’t have many answers. Over the next few weeks, I will be presenting the Board of Education with options as to how we can close the $783,000 gap. During this process, we will work to keep both unions informed. So that we may immediately begin addressing this shortfall, the next Budget Workshop will be this evening at 6pm in Team Rooms 403/405 at the Jr/Sr High School. Future budget workshops and Board of Education meetings are listed on the district website.
I urge everyone to come together as a community during this challenging time. Let us lean on one another for support, empathy, and understanding as we navigate these difficult decisions and work towards ensuring the long-term sustainability and success of our school district.
Thank you for your continued dedication to our school community.
Sincerely,
Julie A. Adams
Superintendent of Schools