'It's a class war': Hundreds rally over Tacoma Public Schools budget, staff cuts
The Brief
Tacoma Public Schools is facing a $30 million budget shortfall, leading to non-renewal of 105 provisional contracts.
Critics argue budget cuts unfairly target low-paid workers, while high-paid officials remain unaffected.
The district says it's working to reassign displaced employees to other positions within Tacoma Public Schools.
TACOMA, Wash. - Hundreds of people came out to the "Support Our Students" rally and marched to the Tacoma Public Schools' Central Administration Building on Thursday.
The backstory
As Tacoma Public Schools faces a $30 million budget shortfall, the district released a statement on May 16 saying it notified 105 provisional certificated employees that their contracts were not renewed for the 2025-2026 school year.
"What we're seeing from Tacoma Public Schools isn't fiscal responsibility, it's a class war," said Connor Griswold, an Education Support Professional (ESP) within the district.
Critics at the rally say the district is balancing the budget on the backs of their lowest paid workers and that cuts need to be made at the top, calling out cabinet members making hundreds of thousands of dollars.
"ESPs are skipping meals to buy school supplies, teachers are working second jobs instead of doing curriculum management, students are losing bilingual staff because [Tacoma Public Schools] would rather protect six-figure consultants." said Griswold.
Rosalind Medina, Chief Financial Officer for Tacoma Public Schools, gave an update on the budget, saying the district is "dangerously" close to getting into binding conditions with OSPI and that these cuts were made to avoid that situation.
"We have been making contractive cuts over the last several years. We have run out of the easy stuff to make reductions to," said Medina.
Medina quickly apologized for describing the notifications as "easy stuff" but people who spoke out during public comment were not swayed by the update.
"Know that many of your staff, like the families we serve, got to get food banks and assistance just to keep the lights on to survive," said Gwen Lewandowski, an Education Support Professional. "If I work three jobs, pay my rent, raise a kid as a single mom and I can figure out my budget, y'all get paid to figure out yours."
Tacoma Public Schools says it is working with some displaced workers to fill other positions within the district.
The Source
Information in this story came from Tacoma Public Schools and original FOX 13 Seattle reporting and interviews.
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