VANCOUVER, Wash. — Vancouver Public Schools students walked out of class Thursday, marching to the school district headquarters in protest of $35 million in planned budget cuts set to take effect next school year.
The reductions would see nearly 262 staff positions cut from the district, including 50 elementary teachers, 63 secondary teachers, 33 teachers on special assignment, 19 counselors and librarians, and 29 custodians, plus nearly 20 central office workers, among others.
“I feel like I’m advocating for my teachers that don’t feel like they can do it for themselves,” said Leon Ramos, a Vancouver Public Schools student.
Some students said they have already begun to hear of English and math teachers who won’t be returning next school year.
“They’re the ones being the most affected by these budget cuts,” parent Kim Rosiecki said of the students. “I don’t know how we expect to accomplish the mission of education without teachers in the classroom.”
In recent years, Vancouver Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Jeff Snell said, there’s been a growing financial gap between staff salary costs and funds from the state.
About 85% of the district’s budget is staffing costs, Snell said. The remaining funds go toward items such as insurance, facility costs and school supplies. Snell said the district will need to cut about 8-10% of its budget costs to make up the funding gap.
Snell previously said that the district tried to delay cuts in hopes of receiving more state funding, wanting to minimize those school budget cuts. In a statement, school officials said they are frustrated they didn’t receive more state support in this year's legislative session.
Over the past few years, the district has been able to avoid making major cuts by dipping into its reserves and utilizing federal COVID-19 relief funds.
“We are getting budget cuts from the (legislature),” said Amadai Alonso, a Vancouver student. “We know we can’t go all the way up to Olympia and talk about this to them directly, but we can get our voices heard from our neighbors, from our parents.”
Snell has encouraged community members to petition state lawmakers next year for more funding.