Silver Falls School Board approves layoffs during emotional meeting Monday night

The Silver Falls School District board members expressed disbelief and apologized Monday night before unanimously approving interim superintendent Joe Morelock's recommendation to reduce staff.

Morelock said the proposed staff reductions would represent more than $8 million in savings and are a necessary step to create a reduced budget for the 2024-25 school year.

The cuts would include 42 positions among licensed staff (18%), 44 positions among classified staff (16%), and a 23% reduction in district-wide positions.

The district was told in April to immediately cut $1.2 million from its current budget and adopt a budget for the 2024-25 school year that reduces $8.8 million from expenditures.

An Oregon Association of School Business analysis found the district had overspent revenue every single year for the budget years 2021-22, 2022-23, and 2023-24. District records show enrollment has dropped by nearly 7% from 2020 to 2023 while full-time licensed positions increased by 5.3% in the current budget year.

The board approved a $3.8 million loan to avoid running out of cash by June 30, the end of the budget year and last month signed off on converting May 3, originally scheduled as a staff development day, May 24 and the week of June 10, which would have been the last week of school, into furlough days to immediately cut costs.

When the furloughs were announced, Morelock said sacrifices were being made "in terms of take-home pay for every employee for each one of these groups, the time they spend with students and the additional stress.”

Anger, apologies during Silver Falls school board meeting

Sheldon Lesire, a teacher in the district, said during public comment that the staff reductions are the “ugliest bait and switch” he had seen.

The union's bargaining team worked hard for a year and a half to develop a decent contract and a reasonable pay scale which attracted more experienced talent from the area, as it had been designed to do, Lesire said.

"The furloughs have cut more than this year's raise, meaning that we did not deliver on the promise that enticed teachers to leave their previous districts and come to work with us," he said. "Worse, because they gave up their seniority to come here, they now find themselves first on the chopping block."

“I am angry. I am disgusted and I am embarrassed by what our district's leadership has done in the last few years,” he said.

Lesire and others demanded "accountability."

School board members got emotional during the vote and all of them apologized.

Board member Phil Wiesner expressed disbelief at finding himself approving the reduction in force.

“I think all of us stepped into this work wanting to do better,” Derrick Foxworth said.

Vice-chair Aaron Koch said he was “gutted.”

“I just don’t have any words other than I’m sorry we got to this place,” Koch said. “My sincerest heartfelt thanks goes to everybody affected by this decision. I mean that.”

Board Chair Jennifer Traeger apologized to the principals who would have to deliver notices, staff members who would be receiving them, and students.

“There’s not enough words that I can say to express how sorry that I am, and I know everybody up here is, that we have to make this motion,” Traeger said.

Volunteers plan to provide lunches to students during furloughs

Michele Stone Finicle is part of a group of moms who have organized two weeks of daily lunches to support families who might be impacted by the furlough week and the week after.

“As a teacher, I know that for some kids that’s the only meal they get,” said Finicle, who ran for the school board in 2017. She has an eighth grader in the district and used to teach in the district.

The group anticipates more than 100 students will need a daily lunch based on the average need in the summer lunch program. They will not be turn any child away or requiring any proof of need.

Finicle said the volunteers have partnered with local “soup ladies” who’ve provided food to those in need in the community during wildfires and other natural disasters. They also has partnered with Silverton Area Community Aid and received $1,000 from the Elizabeth Ashley Hoke Memorial Trust and another $2,200 in donations, as of Monday night.

A “local group of grandmas” has committed to bake and provide cookies every day, and four churches including Trinity Lutheran Church have offered their kitchens to prepare the sack lunches.

Distribution centers will be located at Scott Mills’ City Hall and Coolidge McClaine Park from 12-1 p.m.

Finicle said it was the group’s way of taking action during uncertainty in the district. Her husband was one of the hundreds of Salem-Keizer Public School staff moved in the mass reassignment and terminations May 17 .

“All we can do is make the best of it,” she said.

Volunteer Sarah Weitzman said she was immediately concerned about families who would struggle to find childcare and students who rely on schools for lunch, and expressed frustration with the loss of staff.

“I want our board to figure out what happened,” Weitzman said. “This will have an impact on our students for many years to come.”

Other possible cuts for the Silver Falls School District

Other potential reductions for the school district could include the consolidation of bus routes from 42 to 31, to save $322,000.

After public pushback to the suggestion to suspend operations at the smallest schools in the district, the board approved first reopening the district’s transfer acceptance window. The two-week window is expected to open Wednesday through June 6

Morelock said that could help balance some class sizes before considering other options in his presentation, which included closures or consolidations of schools.

Next steps

The 2024-25 budget for the district must be approved and adopted before June 30.

The budget committee will hold its first meeting on June 12.

The board is scheduled to hold a budget hearing June 26, and to vote and adopt the budget to meet the state law deadline.

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on X @DianneLugo

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Silver Falls School Board approves layoffs