Sequim School District may see a reduction in staff this week after notices were scheduled to be issued to some employees on Tuesday.
At the May 7 Sequim School District Board meeting, Executive Director of Human Resources Randy Hill announced the district will be issuing non-renewable notices to provisional employees by May 15.
Hill said this decision was made due to “the uncertainty of educational programs” and that this is in lieu of the district’s yearly review.
“Every year the district takes a look at the programs and sees if it can offer opportunities,” he said. “We are just uncertain of what we can offer.”
Provisional employees include those who are within his or her first three years of employment at the district or are coming over from another district within his or her first three years of employment.
District officials declined to comment on how many employees this affected before press time. Hill said employees who are issued notices would have the option to come back and apply for his or her position again in the future.
Listed in the May 7 board meeting’s consent agenda, seven certificated employees filed resignations and one filed for retirement. Helen Haller Assistant Principal Allyson Cundiff was among those who submitted a resignation that is effective on June 30.
Cundiff was hired in the fall of 2016 from a school in Bremerton working with students in pre-kindergarten through third grade. Her role as an assistant principal included some instruction leadership, leading some grade level teams and evaluation of teachers. Hill said the process of hiring another assistant principal has not been discussed yet.
Other announcements and news at the May 7 board meeting:
Assistant Superintendent Stephanie Parker announced the district’s CEE climate surveys were sent out to all staff, students in grades four through 12 and parents on May 7 and will be collected May 21. The surveys were sent by email and Spanish copies were available upon request.
Richard James, Clallam County Transportation program manager announced his department is applying for a Clallam County Safe Route to School grant from the Washington State Department of Transportation to create 5,000 feet of sidewalk from Carlsborg Road and US Highway 101 to connect to the east- and west-bound routes of the Olympic Discovery Trail to encourage children to walk and bike more to and from school.
A sidewalk also would be installed beside Smithfield Road to connect Carlsborg Road sidewalk to the existing Miller Road side walk.
“We’re trying to get more children to walk and bike to school,” James said.
He asked the board to approve submitting a letter of support for the grant application. The process would start in 2019 and would be complete by 2021.
Samantha Troxler presented the district’s McKinney Vento/Homeless Youth program and services and stated that 166 students have identified themselves as homeless for the 2017-2018 school year.
At the May 7 board meeting, directors approved:
At Second reading and approval a policy regarding Federal and/or State funded special instruction programs and parent and a policy regarding student and parent rights in administrative surveys
A letter of support to the Clallam County Safe Route to School Grant
More board action …
Board directors met for a special meeting on May 14 at Sequim Animal Hospital where they went into executive session for about two hours “for the purpose of discussing the superintendent’s evaluation” with no action taken.
The next board meeting is set for 6 p.m. on Monday, May 21, at Helen Haller Elementary School Library, 350 W. Fir St.
